Philosophy of Science

• How is ‘philosophy of science’ defined?
- Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions, foundations, and implications of science. It can be divided into two different areas: Epistemology of science and Metaphysics of science.

• List three things that philosophers of science are interested in.
-The philosophers of science are interested in:

1. The history of concepts and terms and how they are currently used in science 2. Formal Logic 3. Scientific Method

Empiricism

• How is Empiricism defined? - Dependence on evidence. - Empiricism is the view that knowledge is derived from our experiences throughout our lives. - Scientific statements are subject to and derived from our experiences or observations.

Scientific Realism and Instrumentalism

• How is Instrumentalism defined? - In the philosophy of science, instrumentalism is the view that concepts and theories are merely useful instruments whose worth is measured not by whether the concepts and theories are true or false (or correctly depict reality), but by how effective they are in explaining and predicting phenomena.

• With this definition, how would instrumentalists answer the following question: “Can science tell people what the world is really like?”
- Science is very effective in explaining and predicting phenomena so therefore they can very closely depict reality.

• How is realism defined?
- Scientific realism is the view that the universe really is as explained by scientific statements. Realists hold that things like electrons and magnetic fields actually exist.

• With this definition, how would realists answer the following question: “Can science tell people what the world is really like?” - Scientific realists will agree that science can tell people what the world is really like because they hold the view that the universe is as explained by scientific statements and further hold the belief that things like electrons and magnetic fields actually exist. • Who coined the