What is science? How does it differ from other disciplines? Do its methods yield a superior type of knowledge? Why do scientists perform experiments and what can those experiments show?
The philosophy of science focuses on philosophical issues regarding scientific reasoning, methods and concepts. The topics in this paper include: What makes something a science? How are scientific theories generated? Can theories be proven? What makes a good scientific explanation? How should we understand and evaluate scientific models? What drives theory change in science?
| Paper title | Philosophy of Science |
|---|---|
| Paper code | PHIL225 |
| Subject | Philosophy |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 2 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $955.05 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One PHIL paper or 72 points
- Restriction
- PHIL 208 and PHIL 325
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Science
- Eligibility
- This paper is open to all students. No specific scientific knowledge is assumed.
- Contact
- More information link
View more information on the Philosophy programme's website.
- Teaching staff
Course Co-ordinator and Lecturer: Professor James Maclaurin; other teaching staff to be confirmed.
- Paper Structure
- Inductivism:
- Science as authoritative knowledge, distinguished by the scientific method
- Logical problems for inductivism and the underdetermination of theory by data
- Confirmation and refutation of hypotheses
- Falsifiability as a test for science
- The theory-ladenness of observation
- Theories of scientific explanation
- Scientific paradigms
- Incommensurability
- Does science progress towards truth?
- What are research programmes?
- Criteria for their progress and degeneration
- Anything goes!
- Incommensurability again
- Science and voodoo
- Science and freedom of the individual
- Feyerabend's critique of Lakatos
- Scientific realism about about theoretical entities
- Positivism, fictionalism and constructivism
- What is it that realists believe? Can realism be sustained?
- Short-answer test 15%
- Short essay 15%
- Final exam 70%
- Teaching Arrangements
There are two sessions per week: one of 50 minutes, and one of approximately 80 minutes. Each session consists of some lecture and some in-class discussion.
- Textbooks
- What is this Thing Called Science? by Alan Chalmers, University of Queensland Press.
This is available from the University Book Shop (UBS) and as an Amazon eBook. - Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship,
Communication, Critical thinking, Information literacy, Research, Self-motivation,
Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will acquire:
- The ability to present and assess philosophical arguments (both written and verbal) to an acceptable standard, especially in the area of the philosophy of science
- A broad awareness and grasp of what is at issue in debates in the philosophy of science
- A demonstrated ability to explain and assess philosophical positions and arguments in their own words and to think critically and independently about them
- The ability to develop and analyse philosophical reasoning collaboratively in group discussion
