Paper 5
Epistemology and Metaphysics of Science
You should answer four questions in total. Answer one question from
Section A and three questions from Section B. All questions carry equal
weighting.
Begin each answer on a separate sheet.
Write legibly and on only one side of the paper.
Answers must be tied up in separate bundles, marked 1, 2, 3, etc.
according to the number of the question.
Attach a completed coversheet to each bundle and complete a master
coversheet listing all questions attempted. It is essential that you write
your examination number and not your name on the coversheet and on
each bundle.
You may not start to read the questions printed on the subsequent
pages of this question paper until instructed to do so by the
invigilator.
Page 2 of 2
SECTION A
1. Is there useful work for general philosophy of science to do, or are all of
philosophy’s valuable contributions to be found in philosophy of specific
sciences?
2. Do scientific theories provide knowledge of the unobservable world?
3. Is there a method that all scientists should follow?
SECTION B
4. Is the “no miracles argument” a persuasive argument for scientific
realism?
5. Does Bas van Fraassen’s epistemic voluntarism help with the defence of
constructive empiricism?
6. “The knowledge that we get comes from one perspective or another, not
from no perspective at all.” What, if anything, is the significance of
Ronald Giere’s claim for the debate over scientific realism?
7. Is intertheoretic reduction possible and desirable?
8. “The best way to confirm a theory is to test it experimentally.” Discuss.
9. “Scientific explanations are causal explanations.” Discuss.
10. Does the possibility of Galilean idealisation require a commitment to the
existence of capacities?
11. In virtue of what does a model represent its target system?
12. “Whether a generalisation is a law of nature depends on the agent who
uses it.” Discuss.