The Final Examination of the Philosophy of Science Course will have the following form. Remember that there will be more examples that those you are given here.

Advice: Complete Groups One and Two as accurately as you can as quickly as you can. Then divide the remaining time equally between groups Three and Four. That is, you should spend approximately twice the time on the essay answer in Group Four as you do on each account in Group Three.

Group One.

Relate ten of the following names to the following concepts, theories, views, or articles in the philosophy of science (give your answers as A1, C5) Remember, you don’t have to do them all.

Examples:
A. deductive-nomological theory of explanation
B. The "hard core" account of theory development
C. pragmatic theory of explanation
D. falsification
E. positive instance theory of confirmation
 		 1. Nelson Goodman
2. Carl Hempel
3. David Hume
4. Paul Oppenheim
5. Clark Glymour
 

Group Two.

Relate the following discoveries, theories, theorems, or laws to the following people.

Examples:
A. Freidrich Kekulé
B. Carl Jung
C. Johannes Kepler
D. Georg Ohm		 1. Psychoanalysis
2. negative and positive electric charges
3. Analytical Psychology
4. An imaginary straight line joining a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas of the ellipse in equal intervals of time.
 

Group Three.

Give a brief account of two of the following view or theories. Be particularly careful to raise any well-known problems with the view.

Examples:

  1. Deductive-Nomological theory of explanation
  2. Causal Statistical theory of explanation
  3. Scientific theories are falsified rather than confirmed
  4. The "bootstrap" account of confirmation
  5. Classical view of theories
  6. Operationalism OR Instrumentalism
  7. Joseph Priestly discovered Oxygen

Group Four.

Write an essay on one of the following topics. Do not rush into this. Choose your topic carefully.

Examples:

  1. Compare and contrast any two of the accounts we have had of explanation OR confirmation OR of theories.
  2. Consider the role of "modeling" in the philosophy of science. Give examples of as many different types of models as you can.
  3. Are Scientific entities necessarily real? Discuss this with reference to the material we have covered in the section on theories.
  4. What is a paradigm? How does the existence of paradigms affect your understanding of science?
  5. Make a considered and careful attempt to define science in the light of your reading so far.
E-mail comments to:
Dr. Bryan Rennie


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