PHI 123 - Philosophical Foundations of Science

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.

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