SOC200H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Juvenile Delinquency, Logical Reasoning, Correlation Does Not Imply Causation
Document Summary
A scientific assertion must have both logical and empirical support. It must make sense, and it must not contradict actual observation. Methodology (a subfield of epistemology) might be called the science of finding out. In looking at ordinary human inquiry, we need to distinguish between prediction and understanding. Cause and effect are probabilistic in nature effects occur more often when the causes occur than when the causes are absent but not always. Tradition offers some clear advantages to human inquiry. By accepting what everybody knows, we are spared the overwhelming task of starting from scratch in our search for regularities and understanding. It rarely occurs to most of us to seek a different understanding of something we all. Like tradition, authority can both assist and hinder human inquiry. Inquiry can be greatly hindered by the legitimate authorities that err within their own province.
