By the end of this course, the student shall be able to:

• relate philosophical questions to scientific practice and theorizing,
• describe philosophy of science as a philosophical subject area, as well as systematize central issues within philosophy of science,
• discuss science and rationality with support in modern theories about the nature of science,
• describe some general methodological issues, especially within the natural and engineering sciences.

The course aims to provide the student with an overview of important issues, concepts and theories within the area of philosophy of science. The course provides an introduction to modern philosophy of science. There is an emphasis on those aspects that contribute to an understanding of scientific method and of the nature of scientific knowledge. Some of the issues and areas that are treated are the demarcation problem, the rationality of science, scientific theorizing and conceptualizing, analysis of central scientific concepts, such as theory, law of nature, explanation, prediction and evidence, the nature of different scientific explanations, the relation between theory and empirical investigations, along with testing and validation of theories.

The teacher-controlled tuition consists of lectures and seminars. During the seminars, the students will practice arguing independently about the philosophical issues that are treated in the course.

Assignment reports and oral presentation.

Students must register for the courses themselves, or contact ETS educational administration eduets@ltu.se, not later than three days after the quarter commences. Failure to do so can result in the place being lost. This rule also applies to students with a guaranteed place.

Karin Enflo

Backman, Y., Gardelli, T., Gardelli, V. & Persson, A. (2012). Vetenskapliga tankeverktyg. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Kuhn, T.S. (senaste upplagan). De vetenskapliga revolutionernas struktur. Stockholm: Thales.
Lakatos, I. & Musgrave, A. (red.) (senaste upplagan). Proceedings of the International Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science. Vol. 4, Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Newton-Smith, W.H. (senaste upplagan). The Rationality of Science. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Kompletterande litteratur omfattande högst 100 sidor.

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Department of Arts, Communication and Learning

Study guidance for the course is to be found in our learning platform Canvas before the course starts. Students applying for single subject courses get more information in the Welcome letter. You will find the learning platform via My LTU.

by Director of Undergraduate Studies Daniel Örtqvist, Department of Business Administration, Technology and Social Sciences 15 Feb 2018

by Director of Undergraduate Studies Daniel Örtqvist, Department of Business Administration, Technology and Social Sciences 15 Feb 2018