Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Science
Answer question one question one from Section A question one Section A and three Section A three questions chosen from Section B three Section B. Section B
SECTION A
1 Is there a scientific method?
SECTION B
2 ‘Perhaps we can have knowledge without experience, but we can’t have knowledge without
reason’. Discuss.
3 EITHER ‘The failure to embrace idealism is just a failure of intellectual nerve.’ Discuss.
OR Could there be a reason to believe that a scientific theory is true, and not just that its
observable consequences are true?
4 Has Karl Popper solved the problem of induction?
5 EITHER ‘Causation is all in the head.’ Discuss.
OR What is the relation between laws of nature and universal generalisations?
6 Is there more than one mechanism by which we refer to particular objects? Does it matter?
7 How does knowing why a phenomenon occurs differ from knowing that it occurs?
8 Under what conditions does a given observation support a particular hypothesis?
9 Do Kuhn’s claims about what science achieves follow from his claims about how science
works?
10 EITHER Many sociologists of science hold that social and political interests shape the very
content of scientific theories. Does this view entail that scientific theories are incapable of
accurately ‘mapping’ the world?
OR ‘Epistemological relativism is incoherent.’ Discuss.
11 In what sense does the nature of quantum reality differ from that of classical reality?
12 Can we regard science as a pure search for knowledge and therefore free of any ethical
problems?