Polyteknisk Boghandel

What is science? Is there a real difference between science and myth? Is science objective? Can science explain everything? This Very Short Introduction provides a concise overview of the main themes of contemporary philosophy of science. Beginning with a short history of science to set thescene, Samir Okasha goes on to investigate the nature of scientific reasoning, scientific explanation, revolutions in science, and theories such as realism and anti-realism. He also looks at philosophical issues in particular sciences, including the problem of classification in biology, and thenature of space and time in physics. The final chapter touches on the conflicts between science and religion, and explores whether science is ultimately a good thing.

1. What is science? A very short history of science Does science have an essential nature? Science and pseudo-science
2. Scientific reasoning Induction and deduction Hume's problem Two types of inductive reasoning Probability and induction
3. Explanation in science The 'covering-law' model of explanation Alternative models of explanation Can science explain everything?
4. Realism and anti-realism about science Scientific realism Objections to scientific realism Varieties of anti-realism
5. Scientific change and scientific revolutions Explaining scientific change Thomas Kuhn on 'normal' and 'revolutionary' science Sociological accounts of scientific change
6. Philosophical problems in physics, biology and linguistics Leibniz versus Newton on absolute space The problem of biological classification Is knowledge of language innate
7. Science and its critics Is science a good thing? Science and religion The science wars