Mar 29, 2024  
2021-2022 College Catalog 
    
2021-2022 College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

PHI 123 - Philosophical Foundations of Science

3 Credits, 3 Contact Hours
3 lecture periods 0 lab periods

Introduction to Western philosophical foundations of science. Includes philosophical and scientific methods, classical, medieval, modern and contemporary science and mathematics, and philosophical problems raised by discovery and change.

Gen-Ed: Meets AGEC - HUM; Meets - CTE - A&H.




Course Learning Outcomes
  1. Describe the application of philosophical method using logic.
  2. Examine the process of scientific method.
  3. Explain the classical ideas regarding science, mathematics, and knowledge.
  4. Explain medieval ideas regarding science, mathematics, and knowledge.
  5. Explain modern ideas regarding science, mathematics, and knowledge.
  6. Explain contemporary ideas regarding science, mathematics, and knowledge.
  7. Summarize the philosophical problems raised by discovery and change.

Outline:
  1. Philosophical Method
    1. Logic
      1. Deductive and inductive reasoning
      2. Formal and informal fallacies
      3. A priori versus a posteriori
    2. Problem of truth and reality
  2. Scientific Method
    1. Theory and hypothesis
    2. Deduction and induction
      1. Analytic
      2. Synthetic
    3. Objectivity
    4. Probability
    5. Set theory
    6. Infinite regress
  3. Classical Science and Mathematics
    1. Thales
    2. Pythagoras
    3. Democritus and Leucippus or Lucretius
    4. Plato
    5. Aristotle
    6. Euclid
  4. Medieval Science and Mathematics
    1. Roger Bacon
    2. John Duns Scotus
    3. William of Ockham
    4. Nicholas of Cusa
    5. Arabic number system, decimals
  5. Modern Science and Mathematics
    1. Copernicus
    2. Galileo
    3. Kepler
    4. Descartes
    5. Newton
    6. Leibniz
    7. Hume
  6. Contemporary Science and Mathematics
    1. Darwin and Plank
    2. Einstein
    3. Whitehead
    4. Bohr
    5. Heisenberg
    6. Russell
  7. Philosophical Problems Raised by Discovery and Change
    1. Objectivity/subjectivity
    2. Uncertainty principle
    3. Space, time, and gravity
    4. Statistics
    5. Absolutism versus relativism
    6. Mechanistic versus chaotic


Effective Term:
Spring 2015