Philosophy 3330:
Philosophy of Science
Spring, 2021

Professor Joel Velasco
Office: 265G (Eng/phil building)
Office Hours: T, TH 3:30-5:00 or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Shelby Hanna
email: shelby.t.hanna@ttu.edu
office: Phil 262
office hours: 12:30-1:30, Tue, Thu

Class meets T/TH, 2:00-3:20 (in MCOM 359)

Course Description:

In this class we will examine some philosophical questions about the nature of science. Topics include criteria for the confirmation and falsification of scientific theories, the character of scientific explanation, realism about unobservable entities, and the objectivity of science. Near the end of the course, we will look to medicine as a case study by looking at specific issues such as the nature of health and disease as well as causation in medicine and ask whether medicine is a science and to what extent it is similar to, or distinct from, other sciences.

Course Webpage:
All information about the course (such as this syllabus) as well as the reading assignments and links to papers can be found on the course website at http://joelvelasco.net/teaching/3330

The readings for the course are below.

Required Books:
There is one required textbook for this course: Understanding Philosophy of Science by James Ladyman. It is often very helpful to have a paper copy of the book which you can get from the University Bookstore (or Amazon or...) but I have also put a pdf of the book on blackboard. All other readings as well as any class assignments will be found on this website. You should check this website reguarly for updates and bring copies of the assigned readings to class.

This is a tentative schedule/reading list:

Week 1 -

Week 2 - Naive Inductionism

Week 3 - The Problem of Induction

Week 4 - Falsificationism

Week 5 - Evidence in Medicine

Week 6 - Evidence in Medicine

Week 7 - Kuhn and Scientific Revolutions

Week 8 - Scientific Realism

Week 9 - Underdetermination

Week 10 - Explanation and Inference

Week 11 - Realism about What?

Week 12 - Health and Disease

Week 13 - Health and Disease

Essay 2 - due Wed (by 11:59pm)

Week 14 - Diagnosis and Screening

Week 15 -

Week 16 -

Final Paper due Sat, May 8th 11:59 pm