The Philosophy Of Science And Science - 1030 Words

Before this class began, I thought of myself as a person who tended to lean towards science as fact-based and found it hard to believe in some philosophical and religious claims that were not backed up by experimentation and evidence. Five weeks later, my views haven’t changed drastically, but have instead been developed and broadened. I now understand the importance of the philosophy of science and why philosophy and science should be interconnected. The need to question things that may appear to be factual is something I now consider more than ever crossed my mind before this course. At the beginning of the course, starting in Lecture One, we discussed the problem of knowledge and the nature of scientific knowledge. The problem of†¦show more content†¦Examples like the theory of Plate Tectonics or the Alvarez Theory of mass extinction are cited as examples of theory acceptance and when it is appropriate. The overarching theme from Losee is that there are no rules th at can objectively decide the acceptance or rejection of a new theory. This is a confusing aspect of science, but is reflected in the history of scientific discoveries and those theories we still hold to be ‘true.’ Some theories are not necessarily confirmed, but are at the very least agreed-upon from empirical observations. By Lecture Four we covered multiple conceptions of method. Method is central to the scientific enterprise. The founders of modern science were looking for an impersonal, objective basis for their knowledge claims. This was coming at a time when science was separating from religion-based belief systems. Method is crucial to determining truth and developing scientific hypotheses. Without a method in place, the goal of objectivity within science is compromised. Method is discussed throughout the entirety of Losee’s book. Losee generously discusses theory acceptance, rejection, falsification, and replacement. He aims to show the method behind the se based on historical accounts in science, but as stated before, there is no set group of rules that govern this. Instead the development of hypotheses and theories that we take are integrated, comprehensive explanation of many ‘facts.’ These hypotheses and