Homework Assignment

Paul R. Thagard, "Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience"

Reading Questions

Please answer each of the following questions to the best of your ability. Write complete sentences - but be as concise as possible. You may use your text, lecture notes, and any other resources in completing this assignment. However, the answers you submit must be your own.

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1. What are the objections to astrology presented by the scientists represented by Bok, Jerome, and Kurtz?

2.How does Thagard reply to the objections of Bok et. al.?

3. Is Thagard's reply to Bok et.al., sufficient to show that their objections "fail to mark astrology as pseudoscience?"

4. What is the verificationist's criteria for distinguishing science from pseudoscience?

5. How does Thagard reply to the verificationist's view?

6. What is Thagard's response to Popper's claim that astrology is not a scientific theory?

7. What are the necessary elements of a demarcation criterion according to Thagard?

8.Why does Thagard believe that none of the necessary elements listed above are (taken by themselves) sufficient to distinguish science from pseudoscience?

9. What is Thagard's criterion for distinguishing science from pseudoscience?

10. What reasons does Thagard give for rejecting astrology as a scientific theory?