Postgraduate Course: Philosophy of Science (Online) (PHIL11133)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to introduce you to a number of perennially-interesting and enduringly relevant issues from the philosophy of science. No previous scientific, philosophical or logical expertise is required and any technical / unfamiliar terms will be defined as we go. |
| Course description |
Key questions will include:
- What is the problem of induction, chiefly associated with Hume?
- Does the problem of induction present a challenge to scientific rationality?
- What is Popper's falsificationism all about?
- Did Popper solve the problem of induction and thereby provide a successful theory of scientific method?
- What is scientific explanation? Which accounts of explanation are best?
- What is distinctive about explanations in the biological sciences?
- What is scientific measurement? Which accounts of measurement are best?
- How should we conceive of probability? What is Bayes' Theorem and what can it tell us about the confirmation of theories?
- What are scientific realism and scientific anti-realism? What arguments can be made for or against realist and anti-realist views of science?
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
| Course Start Date |
21/09/2015 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Online Activities 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
85 %,
Practical Exam
15 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Students will be assessed by a 2500 word essay (85%) and successful participation in on-line activities associated with the course (15%).
Essay deadline: Thursday 17th December 2015 by 12 noon.
Word limit: 2500 maximum (excluding references)
Return deadline: Thursday 21st January 2016
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| Feedback |
Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay by week 6 deadline on Turnitin via Learn. The essay cannot be draft of summative essay but it can be on the same topic.
Formative essay deadline: Thursday 29th October 2015 by 12 noon
Return deadline: Friday 20th November 2015 |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- have a grasp of fundamental issues in the philosophy of philosophy of science, e.g. the problem of induction, falsificationism, theories of explanation, Bayesianism and probability, scientific realism and anti-realism.
- critically analyse and engage with literature by key philosophers in this field.
- understand how empirical and scientific work can support philosophical arguments, and be able to use data derived therefrom in their essays and arguments.
- present arguments clearly and concisely both within a classroom context and in a 2,500 word essay.
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Reading List
Required Reading
Week 1: A philosophical primer
Duncan Pritchard, What Is This Thing Called Knowledge?, Ch. 1-3.
E. L. Gettier, 'Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?' Analysis, 23, 1963, 121-3.
Jonathan Vogel, 'Cartesian Skepticism and Inference to the Best Explanation', The Journal of Philosophy 87, 1990: 658-666.
Week 2: Problem of induction
James Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science, Ch. 2.
David Hume, Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, (many editions but see e.g. that edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge and P. H. Nidditch, Oxford, Clarendon, 1975), Sections IV, VI, VII and X.
Stephen Buckle, 'Marvels, Miracles, and Mundane Order', Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 79, 2001: 1-31.
Week 3: Popper and falsification
James Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science, Ch. 3.
Sir Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, (5th edition, 1989), Ch. 1 and 3.
Sir Karl Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, (1992 edition), Ch. 1, 3 and 4.
Adolf Grünbaum, 'Is the Method of Bold Conjectures and Attempted Refutations Justifiably the Method of Science?', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 27, 1976: 105-136.
Week 4: Explanation 1
Lipton, P. (2001). 'What Good is an Explanation?', in G. Hon & S. Rackover (eds.), Explanation: Theoretical Approaches, Kluwer, 2001, 43-59. Reprinted in J. Cornwell (ed.) Understanding Explanation, Oxford University Press, 2004, 1-22.
Week 5: Explanation 2
Godfrey-Smith, P. (1998). Functions: consensus without unity. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 74, 196 - 208
Week 6: Models and Modeling
Weisberg, M. (2007) 'Who is a Modeler?', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 58 (2):207-233.
Knuuttila, T. (2011) 'Modeling and Representing: An Artefactual Approach to Model-Based Representation', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 42: 262-271.
Week 7: Measurement (and More Models)
Tal, E. (2013) 'Old and New Problems in Philosophy of Measurement', Philosophy Compass 8(12): 1159-1173.
Morrison, M. (2009) 'Models, Measurement and Computer Simulation: The Changing Face of Experimentation', Philosophical Studies 143: 33-57.
Week 8: Paradoxes of Confirmation
Michael Strevens (2012), Notes on Bayesian Confirmation Theory, http://www.nyu.edu/classes/strevens/BCT/BCT.pdf# chapters 1-8
Week 9: Bayesian Confirmation
Michael Strevens (2012), Notes on Bayesian Confirmation Theory, http://www.nyu.edu/classes/strevens/BCT/BCT.pdf# chapters 1-8
Week 10: Realism and Anti-Realism 1
James Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science, Ch. 5.
Anjan Chakravartty, 'Scientific Realism', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/scientific-realism/
Peter Lipton, 'Is the Best Good Enough?', Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 93, 1993: 89-104.
Week 11: Realism and Anti-Realism 2
Bas van Fraassen, 'Constructive Empiricism Now', Philosophical Studies, 106, 2001: 151-170.
Bas van Fraassen, 'Arguments Concerning Scientific Realism', The Scientific Image, (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1980): 6-21, 23-35 and 31-40; reprinted in Curd & Cover (edd.).
James Ladyman, 'What's Really Wrong With Constructive Empiricism? Van Fraassen and the Metaphysics of Modality', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 51, 2000: 837-856.
Hilary Putnam, 'Three Kinds of Scientific Realism', Philosophical Quarterly, 32, 1982: 195-200.
Secondary reading list is on Learn.
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Additional Information
| Course URL |
Please see Learn page |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research, analysis and argumentation. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
It is only for online MSc/Dip/Cert Epistemology, Ethics and Mind students.
The course will be team taught by Dr Alasdair Richmond, Dr Suilin Lavelle, Dr Wolfgang Schwarz and Dr Alistair Isaac. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alasdair Richmond
Tel: (0131 6)50 3656
Email: A.Richmond@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk |
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