Philosophy of Science
Course number: PHI 4400, Section 0001
Meeting Times and Location: T/TH 1:30-2:45
Location: ENG1, Room 427
Instructor: William Butchard, Ph.D.
Email: Please message me in Webcourses
Office: PSY 229
Office hours: Wednesday 1:00-3:00
Course Description
Science is considered by many to be the authoritative means of understanding the world. Other disciplines, such as
astrology, are sometimes called ‘pseudo-sciences’, which is supposed to suggest that they are in some sense
defective because they do not live up to scientific standards. Does science deserve this special status? What
distinguishes science from mere pseudo-science? Is Biology a genuinely explanatory discipline, or is it basically
observation and classification, making it not a science after all? It has been suggested that one merit of scientific
theories is that their content enables them to be either confirmed or disconfirmed. Is the centrality of confirmation
what distinguishes science from palm reading and astrology? What does contemporary micro-physics (quantum
mechanics) tell us about the relationship between reality and the observer? Can scientific cosmology give such a
complete account of the world as to make an appeal to a deity unnecessary? We will approach these sorts of issues
in the course by reading classical and contemporary works, discussing them, and writing critical papers.
Required Text and Course Materials
1. E. D Klemke, Robert Hollinger, A. David Kline, ed. Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science.
Prometheus Books (1998).
2. Materials I will make available in Canvas
3. Six raspberry scantron sheets
Grade Determination
You can earn a total of 100 percentage points in the course. Each course requirement is worth a certain number of
points. The distribution of points is as follows:
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Writing: 1 paper (20 points—completion required to pass the course.)
Exams: 5 in-class exams (80 points each)
There is a cumulative final. It will replace your lowest test score (unless it is your lowest score, in which it
will be dropped).
Here are the details about the factors that determine your grade.
Paper
There will be one paper—10 pages in length. It will require a clear representation of an argument from one of the
assigned readings and a critical discussion of that argument. Your writing will be graded on the basis of your
demonstrated understanding of the course material and your ability to respond to an argument with an illuminating
critical observation. The paper will require an extended planning period during which you engage in electronic
correspondence (in Canvas) with the instructor. This is not a simple topic approval—it is a joint effort to work out
some of the content of your paper over a period of 2-3 weeks before you write the paper. Please note that failure to
write the paper will result in a failing grade for the entire course.
Exams
There will be five in-class exams. These will consist of questions requiring you to supply multiple-choice, truefalse, and short essay questions (3 of the exams will include a 400-word essay).
Attendance and participation
Class attendance should be viewed as a responsibility. I will take attendance every class period, and I consider
attendance mandatory, but it will not affect your grade directly. In other words, you will not earn an attendance
score. If you come to class, you will get a much better handle on the readings and the issues we discuss. Also, when
you miss class on a day when there is an exam, you miss the exam, which will hurt your grade. Please read the
policy below under “Classroom Etiquette and Make-up Work”.
Grade scale
The grade scale for the course will be as follows:
93% to 100%: A
90% to 92%: A87% to 89%: B +
83% to 86%: B
80% to 82%: B77% to 79%: C+
73% to 76%: C
70 to 72%: C-
67% to 69%: D+
63% to 66%: D
60% to 62%: D0% to 59%: F
Gordon Rule
This course partially satisfies UCF’s General Education requirement in accordance with State Rule 6A-10.30
(Gordon Rule). Students must earn at least a C- in the course—and a C- average on all writing assignments for the
course—in order for it to count toward their Gordon Rule requirement. The writing assignments include those
described above:
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

A paper journal in which you and the instructor develop your paper idea via electronic correspondence in
Canvas.
A 10-page paper.
A 400-word essay question on 3 of the exams.
Participation and Classroom Etiquette
I strongly encourage you to be a full participant in class discussions. Don’t worry about getting something wrong. If
something we are discussing is unclear to you, chances are a lot of other people are confused by the same thing, and
your input may well help us focus in on the difficulty. Voicing your opinion, putting an idea on the table for
examination, or just asking a question can be very helpful in a class discussion.
Remember that there are several other students in the course and that it is important not to distract them. Please
make an effort not to interrupt class by arriving late, talking while someone else has the floor, or using your laptop
for something other than taking notes. Also, please keep your cell phones off and away during lecture.
Finally, always remember to be civil towards people who have different beliefs from yours.
Students with Disabilities
If you have a disabling condition that may interfere with your ability to successfully complete this course, please
register with Student Disability Services:
http://sds.sdes.ucf.edu/
They will provide you with the proper documentation for you to show your instructors if you request
accommodations.
Important Notice for Financial Aid Recipients
As of Fall 2014, all faculty members are required to document students' academic activity at the beginning of each
course. In order to document that you began this course, please complete the academic activity below by the end of
the first week of classes, or as soon as possible after adding the course, but no later than August 27. Failure to do so
will result in a delay in the disbursement of your financial aid.
Activity: Go to Webcourses/Canvas and find the “Syllabus Quiz” for this course and complete the quiz.
Topics and Readings
The Nature of Scientific Laws
Carl Hempel: Studies in the Logic of Explanation
Karel Lambert and Gordon Britten: Laws and Conditional Statements
Armstrong: “A Critique of the Regularity Theory”, from What is a Law of Nature?
Armstrong: “Laws of Nature as Relations between Universals”, from What is a Law of Nature?
Sidney Shoemaker: Causality and Properties
Brian Elis and Caroline Lierse: Dispositional Essentialism
Scientific Explanation
Laws and Explanation
Nancy Cartwright: The Truth Doesn’t Explain Much
Bas van Fraassen: The Pragmatics of Explanation
Classification and Explanation
B. A. Brody: Towards an Aristotelian Theory of Scientific Explanation
John Dupre: The Disorder of Things (excerpts)
Gene Witmer: Dupré's Anti-Essentialist Objection to Reductionism
Ernst Mayr: Species Concepts and their Application
Mark Ridley: Principles of Classification
Theism and Scientific Cosmology
Mackie: “Critique of the Cosmological Argument”
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow: “Choosing our Universe”, from The Grand Design
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow: “The Apparent Miracle”, from The Grand Design
Science and Pseudoscience
The Demarcation Problem
Karl Popper: Science: Conjectures and Refutations
Philip Kitcher: Believing where we cannot Prove
Paul Thagard: Why Astrology is a Pseudo-science
The Gaia Hypothesis
James Lovelock: What Is Gaia?
James W. Kirchner: The Gaia Hypothesis: Fact, Theory, and Wishful Thinking
The Social Sciences
Charles Taylor: Interpretation and the Sciences of Man
Observation and Confirmation
Darwinism
Tom Bethell: Darwin’s Mistake
Stephen J. Gould: Darwin’s Untimely Burial
Measurement and Quantum Mechanics
Stephen Toulmin: Do Sub-Microscopic Entities Exist?
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow: “Alternative Histories”, from The Grand Design
W. T. Stace: Science and the Physical World
Confirmation
W. V. Quine and J. S. Ullian: Hypothesis
Gilbert Harman: The Inference to the Best Explanation