PHIL 343 - Philosophy of Science

A study in two parts of the philosophy of science. The first part concerns natural science’s status as knowledge. What distinguishes scientific knowledge? How are we to understand changes in scientific knowledge? What role do values play in scientific knowledge? Is theory choice determined by evidence? What is the nature of scientific explanation? Is science best understood as an empiricist or a realist enterprise? The second part concerns philosophy of biology more specifically. How does Darwinian theory pass traditional tests demarcating science from pseudoscience? How are we to understand the concepts of adaptation, species, and function in light of Darwinian theory? What, if anything, does Darwinian theory have to tell us about human nature or morality? In investigating these questions, we will read articles by leading scholars in the philosophy of science. Group III