Philosophy of Science

Course Description

Scientific theories are powerful! They make stunningly accurate predictions and offer satisfying explanations of phenomena around us. But what makes these theories so successful? How much do they really tell us about the world? And just what makes an explanation “scientific,” anyhow? We will review historical and contemporary approaches to answering these questions, covering topics such as the reality of unobservable entities, how we choose between competing theories, how old theories reduce to new ones (if they do at all), and the nature of scientific explanation. This course is self-contained; no previous scientific or mathematical training is required.

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