| CODE | MSS2014 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Principles and Perspectives of Science | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Mathematics and Science Education | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit introduces students to various views about the nature of science and the scientific process, and to scientific reasoning including induction, deduction, falsification and their limitations and the products of science including facts, concepts, principles, theories and their underlying assumptions. The study-unit will take a look at the historical development of science and philosophical perspectives in science. Study-Unit Aims: The aims of this study-unit are to: - introduce students to the various views about the nature of science and the scientific process, and modes of scientific reasoning and their limitations; - introduce students to the products of science (as facts, concepts, principles, theories) and their underlying assumptions; - provide an overview of main ideas in the philosophy of science; - impart a historical perspective of the development of science, including scientific revolutions; and - present applications of a philosophical and historical perspective of science. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - discuss the nature of science in terms of aims, values and assumptions in the establishment of facts, concepts, principles, theories and their interpretation. - recognise and explain the roles of logical processes (as induction, deduction, falsification) and the development and growth of scientific theories. - have an overview of main ideas in the philosophy of science. - explain the social construction of knowledge in science: scientific communities, paradigms, normal science, revolutionary science, scientific research programmes. - discuss the scientific revolutions, as those of the 16th - 17th centuries. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - apply the knowledge obtained in the study-unit to consider critically science and scientific activity. - access and evaluate various sources on the philosophy and history of science. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Okasha S., Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2016. - Chalmers, A., What is this Thing called Science?, 4th Revised Edition, University of Queensland Press, 2013. - Barker, G. and Kitcher P., Philosophy of Science A New Introduction, Oxford University Press. - Hannam, J., God's Philosophers How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science, Icon Books, 2014. Supplementary Readings: - Popper, K., The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Routledge Classics, 2003. - Kuhn, T. S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, 1996. - Feyerabend, P., Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge, Verso Book. - Fuller, S., Kuhn Vs Popper: The Struggle for the Soul of Science, Columbia University Press, 2005. - Fuller, S., Kuhn Vs Popper: Prophets of the End of Science, Icon Books Ltd, 2003. - Kuhn, T. S., The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought, Harvard University Press, 1990. - Kuhn, T. S., The Road Since Structure: Philosophical Essays, 1970-1993, with an Autobiographical Interview, University of Chicago Press, 2003. - Sardar, Z., Thomas Kuhn and the Science Wars, Icon Books Ltd, 2000. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Martin M. Musumeci Rachel Pace |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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