Philosophy of Science

Catalog description

Science, according to most, is our best way of gathering objective knowledge about the world. But what, if anything, guarantees the “objectivity” of science? While we tend to think of our current scientific theories as providing us with knowledge, how do we know those theories will not be displaced by better ones, as theories in the past have been? Moreover, how should we reconcile the fact that science is geared towards knowledge with the fact that it is pursued by individuals with their own political aims, biases, and values? In this course, we will consider what characteristics of science allow for objective knowledge.