Multiple Choice Exam

Philip Kitcher, "Believing Where We Cannot Prove"

Please use a form 882-ES Scan-Tron Card to record your answers. Choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

1. According to Kitcher, science cannot achieve knowledge which is absolutely certain because:

• A. scientific knowledge rests upon indirect arguments from observational evidence
• B. scientists are confined to a relatively small region of space and time
• C. scientists seek knowledge which transcends our observations and experience
• D. all of the above
• E. none of the above

2. According to Kitcher, since science is fallible and not certain, we should:

• A. ignore the opinions of scientists
• B. become sceptics
• C. separate science and society
• D. give up the simple opposition of proof and faith
• E. all of the above

3. According to the "popular picture of science":

• A. theories must have observational consequences
• B. predictive success counts in favor of a theory
• C. predictive failure counts against a theory
• D. all of the above
• E. none of the above

4. According to Kitcher, the "hallmark" of science is:

• A. proof
• B. certainty
• C. fallibility
• D. objectivity
• E. all of the above

5. According to Kitcher, "good scientific theories" :

• A. consist of lots of different problem-solving strategies
• B. consist of only one problem-solving strategy
• C. contain some untestable auxiliary hypotheses
• D. restrict the domain of their methods
• E. none of the above

6. According to Kitcher, "bad scientific theories":

• A. fail to raise new qustions or open up new lines of research
• B. restrict the domain of their methods
• C. contain untestable auxiliary hypotheses
• D. all of the above
• E. none of the above

7. According to Kitcher, "non-scientific theories":

• A. employ a hodge-podge of problem-solving strategies and methods
• B. restrict the range and domain of their methods
• C. fail to follow up on unresolved problems dismissing them as exceptional cases
• D. all of the above
• E. none of the above

8. According to Kitcher, individual scientific laws:

• A. can be tested by deducing observational statements from them and then determining whether these statements are true or false
• B. have no observational consequences
• C. are neither true nor false
• D. are analytic statements and hence true by definition
• E. all of the above

9. According to Kitcher, one of the main lessons to be learned from the history of celestial mechanics is that:

• A. we should not reject a theory simply because of one falsifying instance
• B. auxiliary hypotheses can be introduced to "save" a theory from refutation, but only if they are independently testable
• C. science can succeed only if it can fail
• D. all of the above
• E. none of the above.

10. Kitcher maintains that "deductive validity" means that:

• A. a statement which is validly deduced from other statements cannot be false
• B. the statements from which a statement is validly deduced must all be true
• C. a statement which is validly deduced from true statements cannot be false
• D. all of the above
• E. none of the above