A brief introduction

1. What is the philosophy of
science all about?*
John Wilkins
* All opinions given here are independent of anything
my university might choose to think. Not valid in the
state of California

2. What does PoS concern itself
with?
• Evidence
• Theory
• Method
• Specific problems

3. Evidence
• Francis Bacon said that by gathering enough evidence
we could come up with laws of nature [induction]
• Evidence depends to some degree on what you expect to
be evidence [theory-dependence of observation]
• How evidence tells for or against a hypothesis [model
choice, confirmation of hypotheses, falsificationism]

4. Theory
• A theory is an explanation of some phenomenon or other
[scientific explanation]
• A theory is a representation of the way the world is
[models, the ontology of science]
• A theory is a commitment to a worldview [paradigms]
• A theory is a well-confirmed hypothesis [confirmation]

5. Method
• Science has a method [methodological monism]
• Science has no single method [methodological pluralism]
• Science has no (or any) method you like [methodological
anarchism]
• Special issues [statistical theories, experimental design]

6. Special issues
• Metascience [pessimistic induction, social construction,
logic]
• Sociology of science [SSSK, influence of politics, social
sciences]
• Disciplinary subspecialities [philosophies of: history,
biology, physics, sociology, cognitive science, chemistry,
geology, astronomy, medicine, etc.]
• Subsidiary issues [influence of parascientific fields like
astrology, homeopathy, alchemy, etc.]

7. Special issues
• Realism/Antirealism: do we believe that things theories
say exist actually do?
• Demarcation: Is there a way to tell between science and
pseudoscience or nonscience?
• Pluralism/monism: Is there only one world or many?
• Reductionism/holism: Can we reduce one domain (e.g.,
psychological) to another (e.g., genetic) and should we?
[coherentism/foundationalism]

8. How PoS proceeds
• Conceptual analysis
• Reconstructing historical sequences and events
• Analysing the social interactions of science
• Considering the consequences of science in the broader
community