SECTION A
1. “Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to
birds” (attributed to Richard Feynman). Discuss.
2. Does it still make sense for philosophers of science to search for the
scientific method?
SECTION B
3. Does the fact that most scientists do not usually try to falsify their own
theories invalidate Popper’s philosophy of science?
4. What does it mean to say that “smoking causes lung cancer”?
5. How should scientists solve problems of inductive risk?
6. What purposes are served by classifying organisms into species?
7. What is the best argument against the possibility of a social science?
Does it succeed?
8. Is scientific research based on paradigms? Discuss with reference to a
particular area of science.
9. Why is it valuable to have multiple competing explanations for the same
phenomena?
10. All cognition is information processing. Do you agree?
11. Is Kuhn’s view of scientific revolutions incompatible with scientific realism?
12. Are the physical sciences special in having a method for learning about
unobservable entities?