FIL100 Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (Autumn 2020)
- ECTS Credits:
- 10
- Responsible department:
- Faculty of Humanities and Education
- Course Leaders:
-
- Reier Helle
- Sara Kasin Vikesdal
- Lecture Semester:
- Autumn
- Teaching language:
- Norwegian
- Duration:
- ½ year
Table of contents
The course is connected to the following study programs
Teaching language
Learning outcomes
Upon course completion students will:
Knowledge
- Have broad knowledge of epistemology and the philosophy of science
- Have knowledge of problems related to knowledge and justification
- Have knowledge of scepticism
- Have knowledge about the characteristics of science and scientific methods
Skills
- Be able to reflect on the concepts knowledge, justification, science and scientific method
- Be able to evaluate if something is science or not
General competence
- Be able to disseminate problems related to the concepts knowledge, justification and scepticism
- Be able to apply the acquired knowledge to new problems
Contents
The course gives an introduction to epistemology and the philosophy of science. Epistemology is the study of what knowledge is, and related concepts like understanding and justification. Central questions are: What does it mean to have knowledge about something? What can we and what can we not acquire knowledge about? Can we acquire knowledge about anything at all?
The philosophy of science is a study of what science is, and related concepts like scientific knowledge, scientific justification, scientific methods and realism versus anti-realism and instrumentalism. Central questions are: What does it mean to practice science? What does it imply to have scientific knowledge about something? What can we and what can we not acquire scientific knowledge about?