PH201     
Philosophy of Science

This information is for the 2016/17 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Ioannis Votsis

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and Philosophy and BSc in Statistics with Finance. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Pre-requisites

None.

Course content

Science is chock full of miraculous predictions, shocking revolutions, and unexpected results that few science fiction writers could have ever dreamed of. What makes science so special? This course is a tour of the philosophical underpinnings of modern science. No background in any science is needed for this course; everything you need to know will be covered.

The issues we will tackle are the following. Theory and Observation: Hume’s problem of induction and Goodman’s new riddle of induction, Popper’s falsificationism, underdetermination of theory by evidence, the positive instance account, Bayesianism. Theories and laws: the received view of theories, the semantic view of theories, the regularity view of laws, law idealism, laws as universals, the best systems account, instrumentalism. Explanation: the DN model of explanation, statistical explanation, causal explanation, unification. Intertheory relations: reductionism and pluralism. Realism versus Antirealism: Scientific realism and the no miracles argument, inference to the best explanation, antirealism and the pessimistic meta-induction, reductive empiricism, constructive empiricism, the natural ontological attitude, entity realism, structural realism, Kuhn and scientific revolutions. Sociological approaches to science: Social constructivism, feminism. Causation: Hume’s, Mill’s, Mackie’s accounts of causation, counterfactual theories, probabilistic causality and manipulability accounts, transference accounts.  Philosophy of a special science: Space and Time in Newton’s physics.

 

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to write 2 formative essays per term, submit a few short answer questions before each class/seminar, and participate in class discussion.

Indicative reading

P Godfrey-Smith: Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. C Hitchcock (editor): Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Science.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.

Student performance results

(2013/14 - 2015/16 combined)

Classification % of students
First 17.7
2:1 59.7
2:2 16.1
Third 0
Fail 6.5

Key facts

Department: Philosophy

Total students 2015/16: 25

Average class size 2015/16: 13

Capped 2015/16: No

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course survey results

(2013/14 - 2015/16 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 72%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.7

Materials (Q2.3)

1.7

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.7

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.6

Integration (Q2.6)

1.5

Contact (Q2.7)

1.5

Feedback (Q2.8)

1.6

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

64%

Maybe

33%

No

3%