Arts vs.
Science
➢ Both Bachelor of Science (BS) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees contain vast knowledge to
explore
➢ Arts and Humanities were the precursor staples for schools since ancient times while Science
label only emerging in the later in the 17th century
➢ Science utilizes Scientific Method for generating workable knowledge while Arts uses more
open or liberal approaches
Scientific Method
➢ The method of Science is applied more broadly from Social Science, such as Economics and
Psychology to Natural Sciences like Medicine and Physics
➢ The multitude of its application has propelled the Scientific Method as the consensus source
of knowledge.
Philosophical Underpinnings of Science
EPISTEMOLOGY: It is a branch of Philosophy that debates how we came to know what we know
and the limits of knowing
TWO EPISTEMOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
A. Rationalism: posits that adopted beliefs should be based on reason and knowledge rather
than religious or emotional response
B. Empiricism: it is the belief that all knowledge comes from sense experience
These two principles remained at the core of Science. However, certain qualities of the whole
scientific enterprise are still questionable and were further redefined through history.
➢ From the Rationalist and Empiricist roots of science comes the contentious criteria for
“Verification”
➢ The application of Rationalist and Empiricist thought has been the dominant criterion for
Science since 17th century enlightenment philosophers up to the 1920’s logical positivists.
➢ The common theme shared by philosophers and scientists were their absolute confidence in
certainty: they believe that scientific method is infallible and would reveal absolute truths.
➢ The Logical Positivists in 1920 also claim that only things that can be verified through the
scientific method can be considered as True Knowledge
➢ Also, they proclaimed that only Analytical Philosophy, based on formal logic and math, can
be legitimate as a component of Scientific discourse.
The notion of infallibility of Science was opposed quite early during the 17th century
enlightenment
David Hume’s Criticism of Inductive Method
➢ David Hume have criticized the inductive method in drawing empirical conclusions
➢ INDUCTION: method where one’s experiences and observations, including what are learned
from others, are synthesized to produce a general truth
➢ Hume argued that induction only offers probability and not certainty.
➢ One could only ascertain that all swans are white, but this is only until a black swan appears.
Karl Popper and Falsification Theory
➢ The skepticism of Induction was properly accepted in 19th century by the arguments of Karl
Popper.
➢ In 1934, Popper suggested that a “Falsification Theory” would be a more sensible way of
thinking about scientific procedure.
➢ Scientific theories should include an inherent feature of transparency: it should always be
open to be proved false by contradictory incidents.
➢ Instead of gauging scientific knowledge within a consensus of “Verification”, a more genuine
“Falsifiability” should distinguish what science is from nonscience.
