Research Methods in Geosciences (Geol 4161)

Aspiron Hangibayna (PhD candidate)

Arba Minch University

Collage of Natural & Computational Sciences
Department of Geology

Chapter – One
Jan, 2024 1
1| Introduction to Philosophy of Science and Logic of Argument

Topic Outlines

o Philosophy
o Occam's razor
o Logical argument
o Inductive reasoning
o Justifying conclusions
o Hierarchy of knowledge (Data, information, knowledge)
o Definition, analysis, synthesis
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 Having completed this chapter, you should be able to:

Chapter have milestone concept of logic and critical thinking

Objectives understand philosophy of sciences
understand how to arrive at conclusions

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 1.1| Introduction to Philosophy

o Etymologically, it is derived from two Greek words “philos” and

“sophia” which means loving and wisdom, respectively.

o Thus, philosophy is the love of wisdom.

o A science of the ultimate awareness of things with reference to their

causes and effects.
o It opens man’s intellectual cravings.

o It makes a man to know more about himself and the rest of the world.
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 cont’d

Thales:
 Regarded by Aristotle to be the first to make a philosophical
articulation regarding the stuff of the universe.

 His idea of water or moist was the first principle of life which inspired
other Greeks to find more answers and formulated new concepts
which were solely based no the dictum popularized by Socrates.

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 1.2| Definition of Philosophy

• Literally, philosophy means “quest for wisdom or knowledge”. In its

technical sense, philosophy might be best thought of as:

(i) An activity
(ii) A set of attitudes
(iii) A body of content

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 i| Philosophy as an activity aspect

The activity aspect

of philosophy

Synthesizing Speculating Prescribing Analyzing

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 ii| Philosophy as a set of attitude

Philosophic mind

The desire to deeply

Self-awareness Comprehensiveness Flexibility Look into problem

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 iii| Content of philosophy

The content of philosophy is grasped from questions than answers.

There are three fundamental categories around which philosophical content

has been organized:

(a) Metaphysics or the study of questions concerning the nature of reality;

(b) Epistemology or the study of the nature of truth and knowledge and how
these are attained, and
(c) Axiology or the study of questions of value.

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 Cont;d

Philosophy as a content

Metaphysics
Epistemology Axiology
(Ontology)

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 1.3| Occam’s razor

Occam’s razor-1 — principle of plurality

• The Occam’s razor principle (of William Ockham) states that the
explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as
possible, eliminating, or “shaving off”, the observable predictions of the
explanatory hypothesis or theory.

Occam's razor -2 —principle of parsimony

• Given two equally valid explanations for a phenomenon, one should
embrace the less complicated formulation.
• And, when multiple competing theories have equal predictive powers,
select those that introduce the fewest assumptions and the fewest
hypothetical entities. 11
 1.4| Logic

• It demands that all activities corresponding to man’s line of thinking must

be correct. But the correctness or incorrectness of thinking is not the sole
concern of logic but also the rules and guideline that go with it.

• So, logic is the systematic process of valid reasoning through inference –

deriving conclusions from information that is known to be true.

• It is the area of philosophy that is concerned with the laws of valid

reasoning.
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 Cont’d

• Regarded as the father of logic.

• He became successful in separating logic from the totality of

philosophy.

• His six treaties which were collectively known as Organon became the
bible for logical study during the Medieval and up to the modern times.

• Aristotle’s legacy extended all the way to the writings of his student
named Theophrastus of Lesbos.
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 Pedagogical Nature of logic

• Logic as a branch of philosophy is considered by many to be the

foundation of philosophy since its function is to train the thinking mind
toward the formulation of arguments necessary for the study of their
coherence, truthfulness and validity.

• Logic guides the mind toward the attainment of correct and valid
inferences.
• Aristotle claims that logic prepares man to a more comprehensive study
of other sciences.

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 Objects of logic

1. Material Object – refers to the content of the mind known as the

thought. Everything that the mind grasps whether sensible or
intelligible is connected to the material object of logic.

2. Formal Object – refers to the correctness of the thought. The mind

in its desire to study the correctness of the thought ultimately will
succumb to the scrupulous study of logical analysis.

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 Logic as Art of Art

• Bachubber claims that logic is the art of art.

• Logic Perpendicular to this principle is the thought that art deals with
basic skill, as in making a chair or table, or a much more complex
manner, erecting a building or painting a scenery.

• If arts concerns skills, then logic is an art since it deals with correct use
of inferential thinking by following the rules and principles that go with
it.

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 Logic as Science

• If science is understood to be a systematized body of knowledge then

logic is the science of science since it presents some principles which
are necessary for the attainment of correct and valid inferences in a
systematic way.

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 1.5| What is an Argument?

An argument is a presentation of reasons for a particular claim.

It is composed of premises.
• Premises are statements that express your reason or evidence.

These premises must be arranged in an appropriate way in order to

support your conclusion.

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 Cont’d

To craft a strong argument, one must …

• Possess a certain degree of familiarity with the subject
• Use good premises
• Find good support for one’s conclusion
• Focus only on the most relevant part of the issue
Don’t get sidetracked by rabbit trails!
• Only make claims that are capable of being supported
This means avoiding sweeping claims, as those are rarely supportable.
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 What is fallacy

• When an argument fails in one of the previously mentioned ways, that

failing is called a fallacy.
• Essentially, fallacies are defects in an argument
• They are very, very common and can be quite convincing.

• Most of us have likely been convinced by a fallacious argument before.

In fact, we’ve likely presented one!

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 1.6| Circular Reasoning/Argument

• Circular reasoning (also known as paradoxical thinking or circular logic),

is a logical fallacy in which "the reasoner begins with what he or she is
trying to end up with".

• The individual components of a circular argument will sometimes be

logically valid because if the premises are true, the conclusion must be
true, and will not lack relevance.

• Circular logic cannot prove a conclusion because, if the conclusion is

doubted, the premise which leads to it will also be doubted.

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 Types of Logic

a| Deductive Reasoning/Argument:

 Starts with a general rules (a premise) which we know to be true. Then,

from that rule, we make a true conclusion about something specific.

 The process of reasoning from known facts to conclusions. When you

reason deductively, you can say “therefore” with certainty. If your facts
were firm to begin with, then your conclusions will also be firm.

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 Deductive Reasoning

Theory

Hypothesis

Observation

Confirmation

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 Cont’d
a| Deductive Argument

o In one in which it is impossible for the premises to be true but the

conclusion is false.

o It is supposed to be a definitive proof of the truth of the claim (conclusion).

o If the premises are true (and they are), then it simply isn’t possible for the
conclusion to be false.

o If you have a deductive argument and you accept the truth of the premises,
then you must also accept the truth of the conclusion.
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 Cont’d
Deductive Reasoning

From vague

To specific
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 b| Inductive Reasoning/Argument:

The process of going from observations to conclusions.

These types of conclusions are sometimes called an inferences.

Observing that something is true many times, then concluding that it will
be true in all instances.

Using the data to make a prediction.

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 Cont’d

True True True Conclusion

Premises Premises

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 1.4| Critical Thinking
Inductive Reasoning OR
From specific Theory

Tentative
Hypothesis

Pattern

To vague
Observation

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 Cont’d

Example:
Datiko owns only blue and brown pants. Datiko is wearing a pair of pants
today. So, Datiko is wearing either blue or brown pants today.

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 1.7| Critical Thinking

• Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to
do or what to believe.
• It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.
Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:
• Understand the logical connections between ideas.
• Identify, construct, and evaluate arguments.
• Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning.
• Solve problems systematically.
• Identify the relevance and importance of ideas.
• Reflect on the justification of one’s own beliefs and values.
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 Cont’d

• Critical thinking is not simply a matter of accumulating information. A

person with a good memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily
good at critical thinking.

• Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being

critical of other people.

• Some people believe that critical thinking hinders creativity because critical
thinking requires following the rules of logic and rationality, whereas
creativity might require breaking those rules.

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 Importance of Critical Thinking

• Critical thinking is a domain-general thinking skill.

• Critical thinking is very important in the new knowledge economy.

• Critical thinking enhances language and presentation skills

• Critical thinking promotes creativity.

• Critical thinking is crucial for self-reflection.

• Good critical thinking is the foundation of science and democracy.

• Critical thinking is a metacognitive skill.

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 1.8| Justifying Conclusions
• Once your data have been collected, it is time to begin to analyze the data and
come to conclusions regarding the program based on your research questions.

• The analyses performed during this step

depend on your evaluation questions as well as
the type of data you have collected.
• In this step, focus on both organizing and
processing the data properly and ensuring
presentation of the results will be easily
understandable to your various audiences.

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 1.9| Hierarchy of Knowledge
Data
• is a collection of facts in a raw or unorganized form such as numbers or
characters.
Information
• is data that has been “cleaned” of errors
and further processed in a way that makes
it easier to measure, visualize and analyze
for a specific purpose.
• data processing can involve different
operations- combining different sets of
data, ensuring that the collected data is
relevant and accurate (validation), etc.
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 1.9| Hierarchy of Knowledge

Knowledge
“How” is the information, derived from the collected data, relevant to our
goals?

“How” are the pieces of this information connected to other pieces to add
more meaning and value?
And, maybe most importantly, “how” can we apply the information to
achieve our goal?

How???

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 1.9| Hierarchy of Knowledge
Wisdom
usage of the knowledge and insights gained from the information to take
proactive decisions.
In other words, wisdom is knowledge applied in action.
Why???

We can also say that, if data and information are like a look back to the
past, knowledge and wisdom are associated with what we do now and
what we want to achieve in the future.

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 10.| Definition, Analysis and Synthesis
What is Definition?
A definition defines a word, term or concept in depth by providing a personal
commentary on what the specific subject means. It provides a personal,
extended definition (goes beyond what is in a dictionary) of such terms by
linking or comparing the term to a previous definition and by illustrating how
that term should be applied.
Definition is a composition whose aim is to convey the writer’s understanding
of what is included in and excluded from the meaning of an expression.
The main purpose of definition is to explain to readers one’s
understanding of a key term or concept
Secondly, is to persuade readers that one’s definition is a legitimate one.
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 10.| Definition, Analysis and Synthesis
What is Analysis?
The act of studying or examining something in detail, in order to discover or
understand more about it, or your opinion and judgment. After doing this:
The act of examining a substance, especially by separating it into its parts, in
order to discover what it is or contains.
What is Synthesis?
Synthesis is a converse of analysis: putting the pieces back together again in a
new or different whole.
On a basic level, synthesis involves bringing together two or more sources,
looking for themes in each. In synthesis, you search for the links between
various materials in order to make your point. Most advanced academic
writing relies heavily on synthesis.
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