Theory: "Saddam Hussein has built weapons of mass destruction that he intends to use against America and her allies"

Epistemic values - "scientific values":

• predictive accuracy - the ability to forecast what we have not yet observed
• internal coherence - the various parts of the theory should not contradict each other
• external consistency - the theory should not contradict other accepted theories, or 'laws of nature'
• unifying power - the theory should bring together and explain previously disparate areas of knowledge
• fertility - the theory should generate novel hypotheses
• falsifiability - it should be possible to construct hypotheses that could lead to the rejection of the theory - this is an especially important scientific value
• simplicity and elegance - this is a value judgement i.e. it is a subjective judgement made by scientists. Consequently simplicity is a desired characteristic rather than a defining characteristic of a scientific theory.

Does this theory have:

Non-epistemic - "cultural values" factors refer to

• factors in our culture that persuade us to construct a theory of reality based on our cultural experiences
• the feedback-influence of scientific theories on our culture

• Send inspection teams to Iraq to search for weapons

• Monitor communications for evidence of contact between Sadaam and terrorist groups

• Fly surveillance missions over Iraq

• Dr Hans Blix reports to UN on findings of UN inspectors
• Colin Powell submits intelligence reports from surveillance flights and communications monitoring

• Predictions supported; Yes or No?

• Ask new question, make new predictions etc....

• Curiousity satisfied? Derive new predictions etc...

• Go to new topic

• Abandon theory