Doing Philosophy of Science

Should we ‘believe in science’? When did science come into existence and how did it evolve? Learn how to put creative reasoning into practice.
This minor is a thorough introduction to various aspects of philosophy and of science, and focuses especially on carefully developing the academic skills for doing ”philosophy of science”, and on putting them into practice. The possibility of scientific knowledge and science’s historical, social and political ramifications will be discussed.
Given the pivotal role that science plays both in the academic world and in society at large, philosophers have considered and continue to consider the very foundations of science, the possibility and nature of scientific knowledge, its historical, social and political prerequisites and ramifications, and the relation between, on the one hand, scientific theories and models, and, on the other hand, the world. This minor is a thorough introduction to all these aspects of philosophy and of science, and focuses especially on carefully developing the academic and philosophical skills for doing ”philosophy of science”, and on putting them into practice.

Some of the questions that will be addressed in this minor are: What is science, and what is technology? What is scientific reasoning? What are the core concepts of science? Should we ‘believe in science', and if so, why? When did science come into existence and how did it evolve? How can you put creative reasoning into practice? How do science and technology relate to society, and more specifically, to social change? What are critical theories in the social sciences? What is knowledge? In this minor we will attempt to answer these questions in a satisfactory way.

• Acquiring the academic and philosophical skills for doing philosophy of science and technology.
• Acquiring the basic concepts and deduction-rules of propositional and predicate logic, and being able to use them to anlayze reasoning.
• Being able to analyse and to explain the basic concepts of science and technology.
• Being able to distinguish, recognize and compare the different kinds of scientific reasoning.
• Being able to reflect critically on the assumptions, powers and limits of the different kinds of scientific reasoning.
• Understanding and evaluating the resemblances and differences between kinds of “doing science” in both other domains and other eras.
• Being able to reflect critically on the various roles that scientific knowledge and technology play in society.
• Understanding the methodology of philosophical critique with regard to social sciences and humanities.
• Being able to analyze and evaluate the different kinds of critique, both historically and systematically.
• Learning about classical and contemporary ideas and debates in philosophical anthropology, the philosophy of technology, and science and technology studies.

Lectures will be scheduled in the (late) afternoon or evening. Attendence is voluntary yet highly adviced, and the same holds for the tutorials.

Modules:

1. Foundations of Philosophy
2. Philosophy of Science
3. Critique: the Impact of Philosophy on the Social Sciences and Humanities
4. Technology and Social Change

Teaching methods
Lectures and tutorials

Teaching material
Book chapters, articles

Method of examination:
All separate modules have a written examination.

Composition final grade:
The final grade is the average of the grades for the four separate modules.