Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk
How do we distinguish genuine science from pseudoscience, ideology, and bunk?
This audio Deep Dive explores Nonsense on Stilts (2nd Edition) by Massimo Pigliucci, a philosophical examination of the demarcation problem — the long-standing challenge of defining what counts as science.
Rather than offering rigid definitions, Pigliucci argues for virtue epistemology: an approach grounded in intellectual humility, expert knowledge, and evidence-based reasoning.
Topics include:
Why simple definitions of science fail
Falsification, Bayesian reasoning, and real-world practice
Replication crises and…
The skinny
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