Epistemology

The black swan symbolizes one of the historical problems of epistemology: if all the swans we have seen so far are white, can we decide that all the swans are white? Really?

	Kuhn used optical illusion to demonstrate how a paradigm shift can cause a person to see the same information in a completely different way: which animal is the one here aside? Sure?

Epistemology (from the Greek ἐπιστήμη, epistème, "certain knowledge" or "science", and λόγος, logos, "speech") is that branch of philosophy which deals with the conditions under which scientific knowledge can be obtained and the methods for achieving such knowledge.^[1] The term specifically indicates that part of gnoseology which studies the foundations, validity and limits of scientific knowledge. In English-speaking countries, the concept of epistemology is instead mainly used as a synonym for gnoseology or knowledge theory — the discipline that deals with the study of knowledge.

Incidentally, the basic problem of epistemology today, as in Hume’s time, remains that of verifiability.^[2]^[3]

The Hempel paradox tells us that each sighted white swan confirms that crows are black^[4]; that is, each example not in contrast with the theory confirms a part of it:

A\Rightarrow B=\lnot A\lor B

According to the objection of falsifiability, instead, no theory is ever true because, while there are only a finite number of experiments in favour, there is also theoretically an infinite number that could falsify it.^[5]

But it’s not all so obvious...

...because the very concept of epistemology meets continuous implementations, like in medicine:

$P-value$ :
In medicine, for example, to confirm an experiment, a series of data coming from laboratory instruments or from surveys, the "Statistical Inference" is used, and in particular a famous value called "significance test" (P-value). Well, even this concept, now part of the researcher's genesis, is wavering. In a recent study, attention was focused on a "Campaign" conducted on "Nature" against the concept of "significance tests"^[6].
With over 800 signatories supporting important scientists, this "campaign" can be considered an important milestone and a "Silent Revolution" in statistics on logical and epistemological aspects^[7]^[8]^[9]. The campaign criticizes the too simplified statistical analyses that can still be found in many publications to date.
This eventually led to a discussion, sponsored by the American Statistical Association, which spawned a special issue of "The American Statistician Association" titled "Statistical Inference in the 21st Century: A World Beyond p <0,05", containing 43 articles by forward-looking statisticians^[10]. The special question proposes both new ways to signal the importance of research results beyond the arbitrary threshold of a P-value, and some guides to conduct of research: the researcher should accept uncertainty, be reflective, open and modest in his/ her statements^[10]. Future will show whether or not those attempts to statistically better support science beyond the significance tests will be reflected in future publications^[11]. In this field too, we are on the same wavelength as the Progress of Science according to Kuhn, in that we are talking about the re-modulation of some descriptive statistical contents within the scope of disciplinarity.

Interdisciplinarity:
In science policy, it is generally recognized that science-based problem solving requires interdisciplinary research (IDR), as proposed by the EU project called Horizon 2020^[12]. In a recent study, the authors focus on the question why researchers have cognitive and epistemic difficulties in conducting IDR. It is believed that the loss of philosophical interest in the epistemology of interdisciplinary research is due to a philosophical paradigm of science called "Physics Paradigm of Science", which prevents recognition of important IDR changes in both the philosophy of science and research.
The proposed alternative philosophical paradigm, called "Engineering Paradigm of Science", makes alternative philosophical assumptions about aspects such as the purpose of science, the character of knowledge, the epistemic and pragmatic criteria for the acceptance of knowledge and the role of technological tools. Consequently, scientific researchers need so-called metacognitive scaffolds to assist them in the analysis and reconstruction of how "knowledge" is constructed in different disciplines.
In interdisciplinary research, metacognitive scaffolds help interdisciplinary communication analyse and articulate how the discipline builds knowledge^[13]^[14]

↑ The term is believed to have been coined by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier in his Institutes of Metaphysic (p.46), of 1854; see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, James Frederick Ferrier (1808—1864). Wikipedia
↑ David Hume (Edimburgh, 7 may 1711 – Edimburgh, 25 august 1776) was a Scottish philosopher. He is considered the third and perhaps the most radical of the British Empiricists, after the Englishman John Locke and the Anglo-Irish George Berkeley.
↑ Srivastava S, «Verifiability is a core principle of science», in Behav Brain Sci, Cambridge University Press, 2018, Cambridge.
DOI:10.1017/S0140525X18000869
↑ Here we obviously refer to the well-known paradox called "of the crows", or "of the black crows", formulated by the philosopher and mathematician Carl Gustav Hempel, better explained in Wikipedia's article Raven paradox:
See Good IJ, «The Paradox of Confirmation», in Br J Philos Sci, 1960 – in Vol. 11.
↑ Evans M, «Measuring statistical evidence using relative belief», in Comput Struct Biotechnol J, 2016.
DOI:10.1016/j.csbj.2015.12.001
↑ Amrhein V, Greenland S, McShane B, «Scientists rise up against statistical significance», in Nature, 2019.
DOI:10.1038/d41586-019-00857-9
↑ Rodgers JL, «The epistemology of mathematical and statistical modeling: a quiet methodological revolution», in Am Psychol, 2010.
DOI:10.1037/a0018326
↑ Meehl P, «The problem is epistemology, not statistics: replace significance tests by confidence intervals and quantify accuracy of risky numerical predictions», 1997. , in eds Harlow L. L., Mulaik S. A., Steiger J. H., What If There Were No Significance Tests? - editors. (Mahwah: Erlbaum, 393–425. [Google Scholar]
↑ Sprenger J, Hartmann S, «Bayesian Philosophy of Science. Variations on a Theme by the Reverend Thomas Bayes», Oxford University Press, 2019, Oxford.
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Wasserstein RL, Schirm AL, Lazar NA, «Moving to a World Beyond p < 0.05», in Am Stat, 2019.
DOI:10.1080/00031305.2019.1583913
↑ Dettweiler Ulrich, «The Rationality of Science and the Inevitability of Defining Prior Beliefs in Empirical Research», in Front Psychol, 2019.
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01866
↑ European Union, Horizon 2020
↑ Boon M, Van Baalen S, «Epistemology for interdisciplinary research - shifting philosophical paradigms of science», in Eur J Philos Sci, 2019.
DOI:10.1007/s13194-018-0242-4
↑ Boon M, «An engineering paradigm in the biomedical sciences: Knowledge as epistemic tool», in Prog Biophys Mol Biol, 2017.
DOI:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2017.04.001

[1] The term is believed to have been coined by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier in his Institutes of Metaphysic (p.46), of 1854; see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, James Frederick Ferrier (1808—1864). Wikipedia

[2] David Hume (Edimburgh, 7 may 1711 – Edimburgh, 25 august 1776) was a Scottish philosopher. He is considered the third and perhaps the most radical of the British Empiricists, after the Englishman John Locke and the Anglo-Irish George Berkeley.

[3] Srivastava S, «Verifiability is a core principle of science», in Behav Brain Sci, Cambridge University Press, 2018, Cambridge.
DOI:10.1017/S0140525X18000869

[4] Here we obviously refer to the well-known paradox called "of the crows", or "of the black crows", formulated by the philosopher and mathematician Carl Gustav Hempel, better explained in Wikipedia's article Raven paradox:
See Good IJ, «The Paradox of Confirmation», in Br J Philos Sci, 1960 – in Vol. 11.

[5] Evans M, «Measuring statistical evidence using relative belief», in Comput Struct Biotechnol J, 2016.
DOI:10.1016/j.csbj.2015.12.001

[6] Amrhein V, Greenland S, McShane B, «Scientists rise up against statistical significance», in Nature, 2019.
DOI:10.1038/d41586-019-00857-9

[7] Rodgers JL, «The epistemology of mathematical and statistical modeling: a quiet methodological revolution», in Am Psychol, 2010.
DOI:10.1037/a0018326

[8] Meehl P, «The problem is epistemology, not statistics: replace significance tests by confidence intervals and quantify accuracy of risky numerical predictions», 1997. , in eds Harlow L. L., Mulaik S. A., Steiger J. H., What If There Were No Significance Tests? - editors. (Mahwah: Erlbaum, 393–425. [Google Scholar]

[9] Sprenger J, Hartmann S, «Bayesian Philosophy of Science. Variations on a Theme by the Reverend Thomas Bayes», Oxford University Press, 2019, Oxford.

[wasser-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Wasserstein RL, Schirm AL, Lazar NA, «Moving to a World Beyond p < 0.05», in Am Stat, 2019.
DOI:10.1080/00031305.2019.1583913

[11] Dettweiler Ulrich, «The Rationality of Science and the Inevitability of Defining Prior Beliefs in Empirical Research», in Front Psychol, 2019.
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01866

[12] European Union, Horizon 2020

[:0-13] Boon M, Van Baalen S, «Epistemology for interdisciplinary research - shifting philosophical paradigms of science», in Eur J Philos Sci, 2019.
DOI:10.1007/s13194-018-0242-4

[14] Boon M, «An engineering paradigm in the biomedical sciences: Knowledge as epistemic tool», in Prog Biophys Mol Biol, 2017.
DOI:10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2017.04.001

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