Logic and Scientific Reasoning: Premises and Conclusions

Reasoning: Validity and Truth

Reasoning involves drawing certain statements (conclusions) from other statements (premises).

• Correct Reasoning: The conclusion necessarily follows from the premises.
• Incorrect Reasoning: The premises may be true, but the conclusion extracted from them is false because it does not necessarily follow from the premises.

Truth Dependence in Sciences

The truth of statements depends on the domain of science:

• Empirical Sciences: Talk about what happens in the world. The truth of their statements depends on whether the statements actually correspond to what happens in the world.
• Formal Sciences: Their truth depends on their consistency with the rest of the utterances within the system they form part of.

Defining Truth

• Empirical Truth: A statement is true when there is agreement or correspondence between what it states is happening and what we find through experience actually happens.
• Formal Truth: A statement is true when there is consistency (no contradiction) between it and the rest of the statements in the system to which it belongs.

The Hypothetical-Deductive Method Steps

1. Observation (The Note)

The starting point of all natural scientific research is the observation of some fact or phenomenon whose explanation is unknown.

2. Hypothesis Formulation

The next step, which constitutes the truly scientific explanation, consists of formulating a hypothesis that could explain the observed fact or phenomenon.

• Acceptability: An acceptable hypothesis must serve to explain the fact through experience and must not include contradictions or ambiguities.
• Basis: Hypotheses are based on knowledge previously acquired and ascertained.
• Creativity: In the formulation of hypotheses, imaginative genius is especially important, not only in art but also in scientific activity.

3. Deduction of Consequences from the Hypothesis

Once the hypothesis is established, the next step is to deduce consequences from it.

4. Verification of Effects (The Experiment)

The recording of the consequences of the hypothesis is done by means of experiments, or tests designed specifically for the case. This actively involves creating the appropriate circumstances, varying factors as deemed appropriate, and controlling the entire process of the phenomenon's production.