Module PHIL1061: PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Department: Philosophy

PHIL1061: PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide all students with an ability to express ideas about the nature and methods of science in a clear and coherent manner, and to serve, for some students, as a basis for further work in the philosophy of science.
• Students will be shown how to use and apply some fundamental concepts in general philosophy.

Content

• Reasoning in science, inductive and deductive methods, demarcation problems, paradigms and revolutions, methodology of research programmes, scientific explanation, causation, realism and instrumentalism, theory and observation, simplicity, some philosophical problems about space and time.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students will have knowledge and understanding of key philosophical theories relating to the following issues:
• scientific method
• scientific change
• scientific explanation
• causation
• realism and anti-realism
• space and time

• correctly utilise specialist vocabulary
• grasp, analyse, evaluate and deploy subject-specific concepts and arguments
• locate, understand, assess and utilise pertinent philosophical (and, where appropriate, historical) sources
• interpret and criticise relevant texts.

• express themselves clearly and succinctly in writing
• comprehend complex ideas, propositions and theories
• defend their opinions by reasoned argument
• seek out and identify appropriate sources of evidence and information
• tackle problems in a clear-sighted and logical fashion

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures deliver basic module-specific information, and provide a framework for further study.
• Tutorials provide opportunities for students to test their own understanding of the material studies, and defend and debate different opinions.
• Guided reading provides a structure within which students exercise and extend their abilities to make use of available learning resources.
• The Formative essay provides the opportunity for students to test their knowledge and understanding of the module content, and their ability to present and defend relevant arguments and theories, uninhibited by the need for summative assessment.
• The Summative essay tests knowledge and understanding of the course material, and the ability to identify and explain issues covered in the module, and, using relevant research material, to present different approaches to those issues, and make reasoned judgement on the merits and demerits of such approaches.
• The unseen examination tests students' overall knowledge and understanding of the module content at the end of the module, and their ability to bring it to bear on new problems under pressure of time.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One 2000 word essay

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University