Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions concern what counts as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the purpose of science. An understanding of how science operates, if it possesses any real credibility and authority in its propositions. Topics discussed:- Laws of nature Explanation Theories Possibility The problem of induction

2. An Introductory Course
On Perspectives Of
Western
And Islamic Philosophy

3. Agenda
•Initiate session10:25
•About the lectures10:25 – 10:40
•Western perspectives10:40 – 11:25
•Break11:25 – 11:40
•Islamic perspectives11:40 – 12:25
•Questions and answers12:25 – 13:00

4. Lecture Series
A total of nine lectures are anticipated
to be delivered on a monthly basis over
a period of nine consecutive months
Each of the lectures shall provide a
rudimentary understanding of various
philosophical concepts
Please refer to the provided handbook
for further details and additional
readings

5. Sessions Date and Time Subject Matter
Western
Perspectives
Islamic
Perspectives
1 of 9
24th August 2014
10:15am - 1.00pm
Introduction to philosophy
What is philosophy?
Why study philosophy?
Meaning and definition
2 of 9
21st September 2014
10:15am - 1.00pm
What can we know?
Knowledge
[Epistemology 1/2]
What is knowing?
What is knowledge?
Belief, truth and evidence
The sources and concepts of knowledge,
reason and experience
3 of 9
19th October 2014
10:15am - 1.00pm
What is the world like?
Perceiving the World
[Epistemology 2/2]
Realism
Idealism
Our knowledge of the physical world
4 of 9
23rd November 2014
10:15am - 1.00pm
The way the world works
Scientific Knowledge
[Philosophy of Science]
Laws of nature
Explanation
Theories
Possibility
The problem of induction
5 of 9
21st December 2014
10:15am - 1.00pm
What is and what must be?
Freedom and Necessity
[Metaphysics]
Causality
Determinism and freedom
6 of 9
18th January 2015
10:15am - 1.00pm
What am I?
Mind and Body
[Philosophy of Mind]
The physical and the mental,
The relationship between the physical and the mental,
Materialism
7 of 9
15th February 2015
10:15am - 1.00pm
What else is there?
[Philosophy of Religion 1/2]
Ontological, cosmological and teleological arguments for the existence
of God
8 of 9
22th March 2015
10:15am - 1.00pm
What else is there?
[Philosophy of Religion 2/2]
The concept of God
The problem of evil
Religious concepts
9 of 9
19th April 2015
10:15am - 1.00pm
The is and the ought
[Problems in Ethics]
Meta-ethics
Theories of goodness
Theories of conduct

6. And Once Again . . . The
Objective
The primary aim and overall
objective, among other subsidiary
benefits, is to assist in
familiarising and acquainting its
recipients with the conceptual [and
intellectual] perils, predominantly
encountered by religion in todays
society, which are propelled by [or
in the name of] philosophy.

7. Lecture 4/9
Philosophy of
Science
The Way the World
Works

8. What is ‘Philosophy of
Science’?
Some Definitions
The branch of
philosophy that is
centered on a critical
examination of the
sciences: their
methods and their
results
The investigation of
questions that arise
from reflection upon
science and scientific
practice
The discipline of
philosophy of science
investigates how
scientific knowledge
works – its goals and
its methods, its
achievements and its
limitations

9. Questions Concerning
Philosophy of Science
How is a scientific
language
constructed?
What are the rules
of correct scientific
reasoning?
What are the
distinctive features
of a scientific
observation?
What is a scientific
law, or what does a
scientific theory
consist of?
How are
hypotheses and
theories
empirically tested?
What is achieved
by scientific
explanation and
what is causality?

10. Most General Questions
of Philosophy of Science
Is there an objective reality, and an
objective truth?
• This lies on the border between philosophy of
science and epistemology
What connection exists between science
and value judgements?
• This lies on the border between philosophy of
science and meta-ethics

11. Philosophy of Science is
Divided into Two Areas
• Discusses the justification and
objectivity of scientific
knowledge
• A central issue is the problem of
induction
[1]
Epistemology
of Science
• Discusses philosophically
puzzling aspects of the reality
uncovered by science
• A central issue is the analysis of
causation
[2]
Metaphysics
of Science

12. What is ‘Science’?
From the Latin ‘scientia’
[Knowledge]
At times science has
been regarded as a part
of philosophy, and at
others, separate from
philosophy
Sometimes looked upon
as a single discipline,
and at other times as a
plural discipline
Sometimes it is regarded
as having to do with
reality; the phenomena or
the appearances of things
The sciences are
sometimes divided into
deductive and inductive
types, or sciences of
reason and sciences of
fact

13. The Scientific Method
A set of procedures that scientists follow in order to gain
knowledge about the world.
The scientific method is the process by which scientists,
collectively and over time, endeavour to construct an accurate
(that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of
the world.
[1]
Ask a
question?
[2]
Form a
hypothesis
[3]
Test the
hypothesis
[4]
Analyse the
results
[5]
Draw
conclusions

14. The Scientific Method
Ask a
question
Form a
hypothesis
Test the
hypothesis
Analyse the
results
Draw
conclusions

15. [1] Epistemology of
Science
What is Induction?
The process which
leads us from
observations of
particular cases to
universal conclusions
Inference from a
finite number of
particular cases to a
further case or to a
general conclusion

16. Inductive Inferences
If a number of
ravens have been
observed, all of
which are black
And if no raven has
been encountered
that is not black
The inference to the
conclusion that the
next observed raven
will be black
Or the general
conclusion that all
ravens are black

17. Induction is Used to Form
Hypothesis and Theories

18. David Hume & the
Problem of Induction
The rational basis of any such
inference was challenged by Hume
He believed that induction presupposed
belief in the uniformity of nature
but that this belief had no
defence in reason
and merely reflected a
habit or custom of the
mind

19. David Hume & the
Problem of Induction
Thus Hume suggests that the idea of
necessity, essential to the concepts of both
causation and of natural law cannot be
drawn from our observation of the
external world, but must instead be
derived from the felt force of our habitual
associations of “perceptions of the mind”.

20. The Problem of Induction
‘All bodies fall with constant acceleration’
Such arguments
are not logically
valid
The truth of the
particular
premises does
not guarantee
the truth of the
universal
conclusion
That all bodies
observed so far
have fallen with
constant
acceleration does
not guarantee
that all future
ones will do so
too

21. One Response to the
Problem of Induction
Popper’s Falsifiability
Science does not rely
on induction in the
first place.
Rather it puts forward
hypotheses in a
conjectural spirit, and
then strives to refute
them.
Thus, as long as such
hypotheses are
falsifiable, in the sense
that there are possible
observations that
would disprove them,
then the objectivity of
science is assured.

22. Critique of Popper’s
Falsifiability
It offers no account of our
entitlement to believe in the
truth of scientific theories,
rather than their falsity.
And so it fails to solve the
problem of induction.

23. Is This True?

24. Break
15 Minutes

25. Islamic
Perspective

26. Science Through the Eyes
of Islam
Contrast Between Western & Islamic
Approaches to Science
Western science is atomised
and manipulative in its
relationship to nature, since
it does not see it as having
any spiritual meaning. It is
just there to be used and
observed.
Islam encourages the view
that the world is a product
of God, so a deeper reality
lies behind it, and its
structure reveal to those
who approach it in the right
way an inner meaning.

27. The Role of Science in
Islam
All have a legitimate role to play
in the scientific enterprise of
Islam. As long as Muslims are
faithful to the true spirit of Tawḥīd
Logical Thinking
Mathematical
Analysis Observation/
Experimentation

28. The Role of a Muslim
Scientist
A Muslim’s
religious
consciousness
influences his
intellectual attitude
toward the reality
and the study of it.
A Muslim knows
that the physical
world does not
have an
independent
existence of its
own.
The physical
world, like all
other worlds,
owes its existence
to God.
The spirit of Muslim
observation and
experimentation is shaped by
this religious consciousness.
Muslims carry out observations
and experimentations with the
firm conviction that they are
seeking to know an aspect of the
reality of God.

29. Scientific Methodology In
Islam
Islamic science has
always sought to
apply different
methods in
accordance with the
nature of the subject
in question and
modes of
understanding that
subject.
Muslim scientists, in
their cultivation and
development of the
various sciences, have
relied upon every
avenue of knowledge
open to man, from
ratiocination and
interpretation of
sacred scriptures to
observation and
experimentation.

30. A Contrast in
Methodologies
Modern Science
•Cannot retain its
present epistemological
foundation and adopt
revealed scriptures
along with intellectual
intuition
•It would otherwise fall
into a philosophical
contradiction
Islam
•Adopts a Pluralistic
methodology
•Possess a unified and
coherent vision of what
the multiplicity of
methodologies mean

31. Metaphysical
Developments in Science
Developments
made by Muslim
Intellectuals and
Luminaries
Analysis of
Causation and
Necessity
The Problem
of Induction
The Theory of
Occasionalism

32. The Problem of Induction
Introduced by Muslims
It provided an elaborate explanation of
God’s Omnipotence and His constant act
of creation
It demonstrated the level
of contingency of the
world and its
phenomenon
It provided a
metaphysical
understanding of the
reality of the world

33. Next Lecture
Freedom & Necessity
[Metaphysics]
21st December 2014
10:15 – 13:00