Postgraduate Module Descriptor

SOCM945: Philosophy of Science

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

To provide a thorough and rigorous discussion of the main issues in contemporary philosophy of science.
To foster techniques of analytical and critical inquiry.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the main realist and anti-realist arguments on the epistemological status of scientific theories;
2. alternative accounts of the nature of scientific theories;
3. the problem of continuity vs. revolutionary change in the history of science,
4. and its philosophical consequences; the main philosophical theories of confirmation and induction;
5. the role of laboratory experimentation in the production of scientific knowledge.
6. Locate all these issues in the wider debate on philosophical theories of knowledge.
Discipline-Specific Skills7. Demonstrate detailed awareness of the methods used by natural and social scientists, and their philosophical 'explication'/justification by philosophers of science.
8. Criticise and evaluate philosophical theories of knowledge-production from a purely logical viewpoint
9. Use empirical and historical case-studies to enrich and criticise philosophical theories.
Personal and Key Skills10. Construct and evaluate ideas.
11. Formulate and express ideas at different levels of abstraction.
12. Assess and criticise the views of others.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Barnes, B., Bloor, D., & Henry, J. (1996) Scientific Knowledge: A Sociological Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cartwright, N. (1983) How the Laws of Physics Lie. Oxford: Clarendon.
Curd, M., Cover, J.A. and Pincock (Eds.) (2012) Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues. New York: Norton.
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2003) Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Goodman, N. (1954) Fact, Fiction, and Forecast. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Latour, B. (1987) Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lipton, P. (1991) Inference to the Best Explanation. New York: Routledge.
Okasha, S. (2002) Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: OUP.
Popper, K. (1959) The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Routledge.
Psillos, S. (1999) Scientific Realism: How Science Tracks Truth. London: Routledge.
Van Frassen, B. (1980) The Scientific Image. Oxford: Clarendon.