Philosophy of science

Teacher(s)

Richard Sébastien;

Language

French

Prerequisites

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Main themes

The aim of this course is to provide students with a first introduction to contemporary philosophy of science. There will be special focus on discovering the convergences, but also the differences, between the philosophy of material sciences, the philosophy of life sciences and the philosophy of the humanities and social science. The problem of the link between techno-science and society, including the important issue of ecology, will also be examined.
The multi-disciplinary topics covered in Philosophy of Science will include the epistemic status of scientific theories and models, the dynamics of science, the range and limits of scientific knowledge, the theory of scientific explanation, reductionism, the role of objectives, naturalism and the issue of objectivity or axiological neutrality. The multi-disciplinary topics covered in science-society will include modernity-religion and science-expertise-ecology.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the main issues and authors in the philosophy of science. They should be able to present a summary of an issue with clarity and precision in speaking or in writing. They will both be able to construct a rigorous argument in favour of the points of view covered and to adopt critical distance from them. They will be able to find their way around the literature of philosophy of science.

Bibliography

Teaching materials

• Outre les ressources bibliographiques, des résumés synthétiques des séances seront rendus disponibles via Moodle.

Faculty or entity

EFIL