- Title Pages
- Introduction Why the Demarcation Problem Matters
- 1 The Demarcation Problem
- 2 Science and Pseudoscience
- 3 Toward a Demarcation of Science from Pseudoscience
- 4 Defining Pseudoscience and Science
- 5 Loki's Wager and Laudan's Error
- 6 The Problem of Demarcation
- 7 Science, Pseudoscience, and Science Falsely So-Called
- 8 Paranormalism and Pseudoscience as Deviance
- 9 Belief Buddies versus Critical Communities
- 10 Science and the Messy, Uncontrollable World of Nature
- 11 Science and Pseudoscience
- 12 Evolution
- 13 Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
- 14 Navigating the Landscape between Science and Religious Pseudoscience
- 15 Argumentation and Pseudoscience
- 16 Why Alternative Medicine Can Be Scientifically Evaluated
- 17 Pseudoscience
- 18 The Holocaust Denier's Playbook and the Tobacco Smokescreen
- 19 Evolved to Be Irrational?
- 20 Werewolves in Scientists' Clothing
- 21 The Salem Region
- 22 Pseudoscience and Idiosyncratic Theories of Rational Belief
- 23 Agentive Thinking and Illusions of Understanding
- Contributors
- Index
The Problem of Demarcation
The Problem of Demarcation
History and Future
- Chapter:
- (p.101) 6 The Problem of Demarcation
- Source:
- Philosophy of Pseudoscience
- Author(s):
Thomas Nickles
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
This chapter begins with a historical background of the demarcation problem. It then reviews some twentieth-century developments; considers demarcation as a social problem; and offers a summary of philosophical difficulties with demarcation. It concludes that demarcation should proceed on several fronts, not one which is intellectually decisive but which, together, provide sufficient purchase for practical purposes on neutral playing fields.
Keywords: demarcation problem, social problem, philosophical difficulties
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- Title Pages
- Introduction Why the Demarcation Problem Matters
- 1 The Demarcation Problem
- 2 Science and Pseudoscience
- 3 Toward a Demarcation of Science from Pseudoscience
- 4 Defining Pseudoscience and Science
- 5 Loki's Wager and Laudan's Error
- 6 The Problem of Demarcation
- 7 Science, Pseudoscience, and Science Falsely So-Called
- 8 Paranormalism and Pseudoscience as Deviance
- 9 Belief Buddies versus Critical Communities
- 10 Science and the Messy, Uncontrollable World of Nature
- 11 Science and Pseudoscience
- 12 Evolution
- 13 Is a Science of the Supernatural Possible?
- 14 Navigating the Landscape between Science and Religious Pseudoscience
- 15 Argumentation and Pseudoscience
- 16 Why Alternative Medicine Can Be Scientifically Evaluated
- 17 Pseudoscience
- 18 The Holocaust Denier's Playbook and the Tobacco Smokescreen
- 19 Evolved to Be Irrational?
- 20 Werewolves in Scientists' Clothing
- 21 The Salem Region
- 22 Pseudoscience and Idiosyncratic Theories of Rational Belief
- 23 Agentive Thinking and Illusions of Understanding
- Contributors
- Index
