The Structure of Scientific Thought

Course goals

Science 240 is a course about the nature of scientific inquiry, not a science course about nature.  Given the privileged place of science in modern Western culture, it is imporant that we understand the difference between questions that can be answered by science and questions that cannot be answered by science. Thus one aim of the course is to deepen our understanding of the aims and methods of science so that we can understand and appreciate the achievements of science and its limitations.  We will do this by looking at several interpretations of the nature of scientific knowledge, and by looking at recent work in cosmology and evolutionary theory.

Science 240 also meets the General Education Requirement in philosophical and ethical analysis.  Consequently a second aim of the course is to sharpen skills of critical analysis and reasoning.  You will be asked to identify and evaluate arguments in  favor of various positions about science, and to develop and defend your own views.

Some issues of special concern will be:

1. Can scientific knowledge go beyond the realm of what we can observe? If so, how?
2. Can the scientific method overcome the influence of personal and collective biases?
3. What, if anything, can science tell us about the origins and end of the universe?
4. What, if any, are the implications of evolutionary theory for our understanding of human behavior and ethics?