ACCTG 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Behaviorism, Normal Science, William Whewell
Document Summary
Rise of the scientific approach can be summarized as a shift in balance from deductive reasoning to inductive reasoning. Men of science first tried to convince audience that new way of thinking was very close to traditional deductive reasoning and demonstration (galilei, early newton) Whewell/comte: no clear distinction between observation and idea, fact and theory; they are closely related and influenced by each other. End of 19th century: doubts about inductive reasoning gone. Science"s claim of superiority based on four principles: realism: there is a physical world with independent objects, which can be understood by human intellect, objectivity: knowledge of the physical reality does not depend on the observer; Plato: rationalist view, reasoning more important than senses. Perception fallible, observable world shadow of real world. Aristotle: scope for observation, distinction between deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. Correspondence theory of truth: a statement is true when it corresponds with reality;
