General Methodology of Science WF-FI-N112-OMN

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The lectures provide a presentation of the basic issues and concepts in the philosophy of science and present them in a broader historical context. Discussing these issues in a historical context will allow students to understand how philosophical reflection on science and scientific methodology has developed. It will also allow them to indicate how philosophers concerned with scientific methodology have been influenced by cultural and social changes, as well as changes in natural science itself.

In order to facilitate students' understanding of the topics discussed, the lecture has been divided into three parts. The first part will deal with the discussion and presentation of the basics of the methodology of science, so that students can use its terminology freely and with understanding. Mastering the knowledge from the first part will be the starting point for the second part, which will present in chronological order the main concepts of classical philosophy of science, focusing on defining the methods of correct scientific work and creating a demarcation line separating science from pseudoscience. The third part of the lecture will present the concepts of the ‘new wave’ philosophy of science, which focuses on science as a specific cultural activity and tries to understand the specifics of its historical development.

In the course of the lectures, students will be introduced to a full cross-section of issues related to the philosophical reflection on science, ranging from methodology to meta-scientific issues to reflections on the history and philosophy of science.

During the exercises, students will read and discuss articles on selected problems and issues in contemporary philosophy of science.

Sady W., Spór o racjonalność naukową, Wydawnictwo UMK, 2013
Such J., Szcześniak M., Filozofia nauki, Wydawnictwo naukowe UAM, Poznań 2000.

Additional literature
Nowak S., Metodologia badań społecznych, Wydawnictwo PWN, Warszawa 2008
Losee J. A historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001
The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Science, (ed. P. Machamer and M. Silberstein), Malden-Oxford 2001,
A Companion to the Philosophy of Science, (ed. W. H. Newton-Smith), Malden-Oxford 2001,