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

What does PoS concern itself with?

• Evidence

• Theory

• Method

• Specific problems

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]

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]

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]

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.]

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]

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