Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of science appears to be an open system of knowledge, continuously renewed both in relation to specific scientific disciplines and in relation to social and cultural practice.
The course is based on the idea of science as a specific cultural and historical embodiment and ontological rootedness of a person in the world.
The purpose of the course is to form a system of key ideas about the history and philosophy of science, as well as methodological knowledge and skills, corresponding to the modern level of cognitive practice, among undergraduates.

The goal of mastering the discipline

The main goal of this course is to develop the skills of productive rationality as an ability for consistent analytical thinking and, at the same time, focus on generating new knowledge in rapidly changing contexts of cognitive and social practice. This task is solved through familiarizing undergraduates in the course of lectures and seminars with the key components of the history and philosophy of science (the history of the emergence and evolution of scientific programs, the structure of scientific knowledge and the dynamics of its development, factors of the socio-cultural determination of cognition, scientific ethics, the specifics of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, strategies of scientific search and scientific research at the present stage of development of science), as well as independent work on writing a historical and philosophical essay related to the topic of the final qualifying work, studying primary sources and participating in discussions at seminars.

The skills you get

  • • know the conceptual apparatus and content of the basic concepts of philosophy that form the idea of the scientific picture of the world, the foundations of the methodology of science and scientific discourse;
  • • understand the specifics of the scientific worldview and scientific discourse, and the significance of the methodology of science
  • • use the conceptual apparatus of philosophy and methodology of science, to take into account the specifics of scientific discourse in practical professional activity.

Topics covered

  • 1. Fundamental Issues of the Philosophy of Science
  • 2. Evolution of the scientific worldview
  • 3. History of the philosophy of science
  • 4. Problems of the philosophy of science

When instructed

  • 1st year, 1st semester

List of references and sourses

Textbooks:
1.    J. A. Cover, Martin Curd, Cristopher Pincock. Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues. – W. W. Norton & Co, 1998.
2.    Scientific Inquiry: Reading in the Philosophy of Science. Edited by Robert Klee. – Oxford University Press, 1998.
3.    Richard DeWitt. Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science. – Willey Blackwell, 2018.