LSA Course Guide

< back	Printer Version

Class Detail:
WN 2013 Philosophy PHIL 155 - The Nature of Science Section 001
Credits:	3
Requirements & Distribution:	HU
Waitlist Capacity:	99
Advisory Prerequisites:	Students are strongly advised not to take more than two Philosophy Introductions.
Repeatability:	May not be repeated for credit.
Primary Instructor:	Gallow, J Dmitri
	(real time availability for all sections)

This course will offer an introduction to some central questions in the Philosophy of Science. We will begin by asking some general questions about scientific methodology, What is it? What distinguishes it from psuedo-scientific methodologies? Should we believe that scientific methodology will lead us toward truth? If so, why? How does evidence support or confirm a scientific theory? What can science teach us about the nature of reality, and how can it teach us this? In particular, does mature micro-physics give us reason to believe that the entities posited by its theories really exist? If the terms from our theories refer to entities out in the world, how do they refer to these entities? We will then shift gears a bit, after the midterm, and look at some questions about the metaphysical status of some concepts which appear regularly in scientific practice: explanation, laws, dispositions, causation, and chance. During this section of the course, we will be considering questions such as What is it for something to be a law of nature? In virtue of what do some facts explain other facts? What is a chance? When I say that the chance that the coin lands heads in 1/2, what do I mean? What is it for two events to be causally related? What makes claims about what would have happened in certain circumstances true or false? What makes claims about object's dispositions true or false? Intended Audience: The course will not presuppose any previous exposure to philosophy.

Course Syllabi Syllabi are available to current LSA students. IMPORTANT: These syllabi are provided to give students a general idea about the courses, as offered by LSA departments and programs in prior academic terms. The syllabi do not necessarily reflect the assignments, sequence of course materials, and/or course expectations that the faculty and departments/programs have for these same courses in the current and/or future terms. Search for Syllabus

Textbooks/Other Materials (data maintained by department in Wolverine Access)



ISBN: 9780136638230	Philosophy of natural science, Author: Hempel, Carl G. (Carl Gustav), 1905-1997., Publisher: Prentice-Hall 1966
Required

ISBN: 9780415221566	Understanding philosophy of science, Author: Ladyman, James, 1969-, Publisher: Routledge 2002
Required