2023 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Philosophy of Science C
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Keiichi Oyamada
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 7-8 Tue (M-157(H1102)) / 7-8 Fri (M-157(H1102))
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.T306
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2023
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 8, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
There are various philosophical problems on science. Focusing on some of them, especially on ``causality'' and ``scientific explanation'', we shall introduce the backgrounds and the existing views on them. Moreover, we will explore whether or not there is a best answer or a better answer than ever.
The main aims of this course are to propose some materials for students' own thinking about sciences and to bring them to have a grounding in their own judgements.
Course description and aims
Via this course, students will acquire some philosophically basic ideas and methods which are necessary to think for themselves about sciences.
Keywords
science, philosophy, logic, metaphysics, existence, causality, scientific explanation
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
70 minutes (lecture)
10 minutes (discussion and exercise)
10 minutes (question and answer)
Should the number of applicants for this course exceed the limit, a lottery system will be used to determine which students are admitted. Be sure to attend the first class.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction | Significance of philosophy of science, etc. |
| Class 2 | Scientific Activities and their Elements | Analysis of scientific activities and extraction of their principal elements |
| Class 3 | Some Characters of Scientific Language (1) | Consideration of some characters of scientific languages (including syntactic, semantic, pragmatic characters) |
| Class 4 | Some Characters of Scientific Language (2) | Consideration of some characters of scientific languages (including syntactic, semantic, pragmatic characters) |
| Class 5 | Premises (Hypotheses, Axioms, Definitions), Consequences, Data | Categories of scientific enuntiations and their methodological positions |
| Class 6 | Methodology of Science | Elementary outline of methodology of science |
| Class 7 | Scientific Activities and Human Abilities | Consideration of human abilities which are necessary for scientific activities |
| Class 8 | Inferences in Science | Consideration of inferences which are necessary for scientific activities |
| Class 9 | Scientific Explanation | Consideration of the differences between a scientific explanation and a mere combination of some inferences |
| Class 10 | Justification of Scientific Knowledge | Application of some topics in epistemological justification of the modern epistemology |
| Class 11 | Fallibility of Science | Some problems concerning the fact that scientific knowledge is fallible |
| Class 12 | Problems of Causality | Some problems concerning causality in science |
| Class 13 | Problems Concerning Theory and Existence | Investigation of some problems about the so-callled scientific realism |
| Class 14 | Science and Metaphysics | Consideration of some metaphysical assumptions of science and the relation among science, metaphysics and philosophy of science |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Stephen Mumford, Rani Lill Anjum, Causation: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, 2014.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Some handouts will be distributed appropriately.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Mini Test (timely) and Term paper.
Related courses
- LAH.T106 ： Philosophy of Science A
- LAH.T207 ： Philosophy of Science B
Prerequisites
None.
Other
Should the number of applicants for this course exceed the limit, a lottery system will be used to determine which students are admitted. Be sure to attend the first class.