A working scientific demarcation

Abstract

The problem of demarcating science from nonscience is generally regarded as being unsolved. This dissertation executes an analytical process of elimination of different demarcation proposals put forward since the professionalisation of the philosophy of science, explaining why each of those proposals is unsatisfactory or incomplete. Then, it executes an alternative multicriterial scientific demarcation project proposed by Mahner (2007, pp. 521–22; 2013, pp. 29–43). This project allows for the demarcation not only of science from pseudoscience, but also from other non-scientific fields. In this way, this work accomplishes an intensional scientific demarcation, for the first time in the history of the philosophy of science. This demarcation is a directly applicable practical decision procedure and tool to assess the scientificity or non-scientificity of disciplines, theories, cognitive fields, practices, attitudes, testimonies, etc., able in principle to be utilised and applied in any context, for example by governments, regulatory agencies, courts, tribunals, and health care and education providers.

Date of Award	27 Sept 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	James A C Ladyman (Supervisor) & Samir Okasha (Supervisor)