This cou rse is designed to introduce advanced undergraduates to a specia l topic within philosophy of science. Philosophy of science is concerned with understanding the nature of science, and it intersects with other sub-fields of philosophy such as meta physics, epistemology, and ethics. Specia l topics that are covered n this course might include: scientific realism, scientific explanation, confirmation theory, philosophy of probability, philosophy of measurement, philosophy of models and simulations, philosophy of particular sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, cognitive science, economics, the historical sciences), the work of particular philosophers of science (e.g., Descartes, Newton, Leibniz, Kant, Mach, Duhem, the logica l empiricists, Popper, Ku h n ). By examining a partdicular special topic in depth, you will gain an understanding of the debates surrounding that special topic, and more generally, you will gain experience analyzing and critiquing books and papers within a specialized literature.
