Mar 28, 2024  
Catalogue 2020-2021 
    
Catalogue 2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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PHIL 226 - Philosophy of Science

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as STS 226 ) This course investigates questions about the nature of scientific inquiry and knowledge through a survey of classic and contemporary research in the philosophy of science. Our guiding questions are: What distinguishes scientific inquiry from other human projects? What, if anything, justifies the preeminence that is accorded knowledge gained in specifically scientific ways? What features of science make its methods objective, rational, reliable, etc.— if they are so in fact? Specific topics explored may include the nature of explanation, theory change, the puzzle of induction, empirical significance, and whether we should be scientific realists, i.e., should we understand scientific theories as requiring the actual existence of the entities, properties, and laws it purports to describe? Philosophy of science is a deeply historical subject matter, and we frequently have recourse to examples drawn from the history of physics, mathematics, biology, and the social sciences, among others. Matt Moss.

Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Philosophy.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS



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