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In this module, we will be interested not in what we should know about nature, but more in how we get to know what we want to know about it and how we explain phenomena in nature. The module aims to add to your knowledge of science from a methodological and philosophical point of view and also to sharpen your general critical thinking skills.
Scientists use different methods to study nature. Some study animals and plants at times using microscopes, some mix materials in test tubes and beakers, mix them in ultracentrifuges and observe them via spectroscopes, others may look at the sky using telescopes, satellites, or look for tiny particles using particle accelerators or measure voltages via oscilloscopes. Still others work mainly on paper, write mathematical derivations and formulas, or only do their calculations on computers. In the social sciences surveys are taken and statistically analysed. Can it be that there is a scientific method with a definite set of rules or logical criteria which unites all of these apparently disparate activities?
Join us for a set of discussions devoted to that important question. How do we distinguish science and its approach to understanding and interpretation of the world around us from the way other intellectual currents try to achieve that goal? What gives science a logical foundation? How do philosophers (experts in logic, rather than particular areas of science) answer this question? Should we trust science more than astrology or creationism, and if yes, why? What is the difference between science and pseudoscience?
The module aims at a general audience, but it is highly relevant for those interested in: philosophy, the life sciences, physics and the philosophy of science itself. You should expect that a basic level of logic and formal thinking will be part of our discussions and we will include discussions concerning modern evolutionary theory and some more basic examples of from physics. However, only a minimal understanding will be presupposed of these subjects.
Module leader: Hetényi Balázs
