Kursinformation

What makes a good scientific explanation, and what makes a bad one? How are scientific explanations different from our every-day explanations of events? How do scientific explanations stand towards knowledge and understanding of the world? This course introduces some of the major views of explanation in the philosophy of science. In particular, we will explore topics such as law-like, probabilistic, causal, mechanistic and unifying explanations, with case studies from physics, psychology and neuroscience. Participants will learn

• the relevant concepts about scientific explanation,
• to systematically analyse philosophical arguments and critically engage with philosophical texts, and
• to develop and clearly present their own well-informed views about them.

A background in philosophy of science is recommended but not required. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the seminar will presumably be located online. In that case, we use Moodle as a platform to share course materials, and Zoom to hold sessions. ECTS will be awarded based on forum contributions and either two short written assignments or an oral examination.

Recommended literature: 

Salmon, Wesley C., W. Salmon, and Philip Kitcher. Scientific Explanation. Minneapolis, 1989.
Woodward, James and Lauren Ross, "Scientific Explanation", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/scientific-explanation/>.