Demarcation problem: Difference between revisions

In [[philosophy of science]] and [[epistemology]], the '''demarcation problem''' is the question of how to distinguish between [[science]] and [[non-science]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Resnik |first=David B. |author-link=David B. Resnik |year=2000 |title=A pragmatic approach to the demarcation problem |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=249–267 |doi=10.1016/S0039-3681(00)00004-2}}</ref> It examines the linesboundaries between science, [[pseudoscience]], and other products of human activity, like [[art]] and [[literature]], and [[belief]]s.<ref name="Laudan1983">{{citation |last= Laudan |first= Larry |author-link= Larry Laudan |editor1-last= Cohen |editor1-first= R.S. |editor2-last= Laudan |editor2-first= L. |title= Physics, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis: Essays in Honor of Adolf Grünbaum |series= Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science |volume= 76 |year=1983 | publisher=D. Reidel |location=Dordrecht |isbn=90-277-1533-5 |pages=111–127 |chapter=The Demise of the Demarcation Problem |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEvprSJzv2MC&pg=PA111}}</ref><ref name="Lakatos1999">{{cite book |first=I. |last=Lakatos |first2=P. |last2=Feyerabend |first3=M. |last3=Motterlini |year=1999 |title=For and Against Method: Including Lakatos's Lectures on Scientific Method and the Lakatos-Feyerabend Correspondence |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226467740 |lccn=99013581 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osMnuvLZvPoC&pg=PA20 |page=20 |quote=The demarcation problem may be formulated in the following terms: what distinguishes science from pseudoscience? This is an extreme way of putting it, since the more general problem, called the ''Generalized Demarcation Problem,'' is really the problem of the appraisal of scientific theories, and attempts to answer the question: when is one theory better than another?}}</ref> The debate continues after over two millennia of dialogue among philosophers of science and scientists in various fields.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gauch |first=Hugh G., Jr. |title=Scientific Method in Practice |year=2003 |pages=3–7 |isbn=978-0-521-81689-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Cover |editor-first=J. A. |editor2-last=Curd |editor2-first=Martin |year=1998 |title=Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues |pages=1–82 |isbn=978-0-393-97175-0 }}</ref> The debate has consequences for what can be called "scientific" in fields such as [[education]] and [[public policy]].<ref name="PigliucciBoudry"/>{{rp|26,35}}