Science and Knowledge

Catalog description

How do we gain knowledge from scientific practice? This course explores the nature of scientific evidence and the methods by which scientists establish reliable knowledge, with attention to historical and contemporary debates about confirmation, induction, and scientific inference. What makes for strong evidence? What is the nature of the knowledge attained in our best sciences? How do different sciences overcome obstacles to developing such evidence? What, if anything, is distinctive about scientific knowledge, in contrast to other forms of knowledge?