Dit zijn aantekeningen gemaakt tijdens de kennisclips van wetenschapsfilosofie. Bovendien staan de vragen met antwoorden uit de blackboard-toets in dit document. Handig als ondersteuning bij het leren van dit onderdeel van Ecologie en Experiment.
week 1
This first class is a general introduction to the field and to the kinds of questions that
philosophy of science does. It also gives you insights into 2 main problems in philosophy of
science: explanation and idealization.
learning goals
● become acquainted with philosophy of science and its difference from science
● distinguish philosophical questions from scientific questions
● become familiar with basic questions related to scientific explanation and idealization
video 1. introduction of philosophy of science
philosophy of science is concerned with what science is, how it works, and what it can tell
us. Some of the most fundamental questions concern very general features of science:
● What makes science different from non-science?
● How are scientific knowledge and understanding generated?
● How is science organized?
● What are the limits of science?
Major topics in philosophy of science are those that analyze and clarify the main
components of scientific investigation, including
● What is a scientific explanation?
● How are scientific concepts used and transformed?
● What is the role of idealization in science?
● What is the relationship between theory and data?
text 1. Kampourakis and Uller (2020) Philosophy of Science for Biologists. CUP: Cambridge
1.2 Science and the Philosophy of Science (page 2-4)
● to identify main aims of philosophy of science in contrast to science
○ philosophy of science complements scientific inquiry by providing critical
reflection, conceptual analysis, and a broader understanding of the nature
and practice of science, whereas science focuses on empirical investigation
and discovery within specific domains
, 1.4 Scientific Aims (page 6-11)
● to identify the main aims of science and the philosophical problems related to
explanation and idealization
○ main aims: description, classification, prediction, explanation
○ Biologists describe and classify new species, molecules, and biological
processes; they predict the effects of human activities on biodiversity or the
spread of disease; and they explain how cells work and why populations
evolve. A main reason for these activities is that many biologists ultimately
strive to understand living systems, such as cells, organisms, and
ecosystems.
○ To explain phenomena, scientists leave things out (abstraction) and make
assumptions that are false (idealization). Abstraction and idealization play
positive roles in explanation because they foreground the causal relations that
are of interest – idealization makes the phenomenon appear as if it were
produced by the focal causes alone.
test 1. questions and answers
question 1
In class 1 (minute 6:30) we present three different images of the cell. Which image is or are
an idealization?
e. Figure 2 and 3
question 2
“To explain phenomena, scientists leave things out (abstraction) and make assumptions that
are false (idealization). Abstraction and idealization play positive roles in explanation
because they foreground the causal relations that are of interest – idealization makes the
phenomenon appear as if it were produced by the focal causes alone (Potochnik 2017).”
According to this quote would you say that the videos at the end of class 1 are:
c. Video 2 is an abstraction and idealization. It helps to foreground causal relations that
are of interest.
question 3
On page 8 of the text by Kampourakis and Uller (2020) (pdf for activity 1) they talk about the
advantages of idealization in science. According to that, the second video at the end of the
first class can help biologists to:
a. Explain a process
question 4
According to Box 1.1 choose the question most relevant for a philosopher of science:
c. What is the relationship between our theories and the data we gather in the field?
question 5
According to the reading of Kampourakis and Uller, what are the aims of science?
a. Description, classification, prediction, and explanation
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