HUMN345 - Philosophy of Science

Description:
The goal of this course is to help you sharpen your critical thinking skills by covering key principles of knowledge, reasoning, and evidence. You will be introduced to the characteristics, methodology, and limitations of science in contrast to other alleged sources of knowledge like faith, intuition, mysticism, perception, introspection, memory, and reason. You will discover how to apply these valuable principles to your studies and everyday life, learning how to overcome obstacles to critical thinking and how to avoid being deceived by means of bogus sciences and extraordinary claims.

Outcomes:

• Contrast science with other alleged sources of knowledge
• Evaluate reasoning according to the intellectual standards of (i) validity and soundness for deductive arguments, and (ii) strength and cogency for inductive arguments
• Judge a new hypothesis in light of alternative, competing hypotheses
• Apply the criteria of adequacy to hypotheses
• Analyze competing hypotheses to determine which meets the criteria of adequacy
• Evaluate weird things (i.e., events or objects that seem impossible, given what we know about the natural world) using the SEARCH formula
• Sharpen your ability to use knowledge, reasoning and evidence (critical thinking skills)

Required Text(s):

Schick, T., & Vaughn, L. (2014). How to think about weird things: Critical thinking for a new age. (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780078038365.