Introduction to Philosophy of Science--Course description

What is the "philosophy of science"? It isn’t science itself. Philosophers of science do not do experiments in laboratories.  Among other things, we try to understand the aims and methods of science. We examine the role of observation and experiment in obtaining scientific knowledge. We ask questions about how scientists justify their claims to truth. Is this important to do, you might ask? Obviously, as a teacher of philosophy of science, I believe that it is. Philosophy of science helps scientists to understand the strengths and limitations of their methods, where biases might lie, and what can be done to minimize them. Philosophy of science also examines the meaning of scientific language and asks whether there can be a logical or rational process to scientific discovery.

In this course, we will start with a brief history of some of science’s important discoveries. Looking at the history of scientific discovery may tell us something about the foundations of science. Then we will look at the beginnings of philosophy of science: in the nineteenth century scientists and mathematicians began to reflect on scientific method itself and to wonder what differentiated scientific truth from other claims to truth. For example, why would we think astronomy offers a greater degree of knowledge than astrology?  We will then examine some the classical and current questions in philosophy of science, and these will continue to be related to historical examples and cases. The question of whether our values and particular points-of-view affect scientific findings is a current hot topic and will be explored in some detail.