Level 61
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Aesthetics and Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of Science and the Logic of Discovery

The twentieth-century inquiry into scientific method, explanation, and the rationality of theory change, from the Vienna Circle's verificationism through Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, and Feyerabend to the contemporary realism debate.

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. Logical Positivism and the Verification Principle. The Vienna Circle sought to demarcate meaningful science from metaphysics via empirical verifiability.
  2. Popper's Falsificationism and the Demarcation Problem. Popper proposed falsifiability, not verifiability, as the criterion separating science from pseudoscience.
  3. Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Paradigm Shifts. Kuhn described science as long normal-science periods punctuated by paradigm-shifting revolutions.
  4. Lakatos's Research Programmes and Feyerabend's Anarchism. Lakatos refined falsificationism via research programmes; Feyerabend denied any fixed scientific method.
  5. The Problem of Induction and Theory-Ladenness of Observation. Hume's induction problem and theory-laden observation challenge any purely neutral empirical foundation.
  6. Scientific Realism versus Anti-Realism. Realists hold mature theories approximately describe unobservable reality; anti-realists resist that claim.
  7. Explanation in Science: Covering Law and Causal Models. The covering-law model of explanation gave way to causal, statistical, and unificationist alternatives.
  8. The Philosophy of Social and Biological Sciences. Special problems of explanation, laws, reduction, and objectivity arise distinctly in biology and social science.

This module continues after "Kantian and Post-Kantian Aesthetics" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.

Key points

Visual module map

1Logical Positivism and the Verification Principle
2Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Paradigm Shifts
3The Problem of Induction and Theory-Ladenness of Observation
4Scientific Realism versus Anti-Realism
5The Philosophy of Social and Biological Sciences

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Final test

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Optional mini-games

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Review Flashcards

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Memory

Match each concept with its definition in as few attempts as possible.

Time Attack

Answer true or false statements before time runs out.

Chronological Order

Put the module's key points back in their original order.

Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Popper, K. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Hutchinson. (Translation of Logik der Forschung, 1934.)
  • Kuhn, T.S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Lakatos, I. and Musgrave, A. (Eds.). (1970). Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Feyerabend, P. (1975). Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge. London: New Left Books.
  • Van Fraassen, B.C. (1980). The Scientific Image. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Laudan, L. (1981). A Confutation of Convergent Realism. Philosophy of Science, 48(1), 19–49.