Theory of Science and Philosophy of science: home bundle

What is theory of science?

• Theory of science, also known as philosophy of science, is the field that studies how scientific knowledge is created, evaluated, explained, and communicated.
• It examines questions about scientific methods, theories, evidence, objectivity, and the relationship between science, society, and human perspectives.
• The field helps researchers, organizations, and societies understand how knowledge develops and how scientific claims can be critically assessed.

What are the main reasons for being active in the field of theory of science?

• Theory of science provides a deeper understanding of how scientific ideas are developed, tested, challenged, and accepted within different disciplines.
• The field connects philosophical questions with real-world issues such as research ethics, public trust

Summaries of the best textbooks for theory of science and philosophy of science

What is this page about?

• Contents: a selection of summaries of the best textbooks for theory of science
• Study areas: critical thinking, philosophy of science
• Language: English
• Access: Public, Exclusive

Where to go next?

• for all summaries for data analysis: see Theory of Science and Philosophy of science
• for all summaries for philosophy, see Philosophy
• for all summaries for statistics in NL: zie Samenvattingen voor statistiek, onderzoeksmethoden en SPSS

What to read below?

• Read on for highlighted summaries.
• Click on the topic of your interest, then use the links to go to the summaries

Lecture 1

1. What is this thing?

A common view of science is that scientific knowledge is simply derived from the facts. In the first part of the book this view has been criticized because much of this statement cannot be justified, in this chapter it will be described why this view is not completely incorrect. It is claimed that science is based on facts and that these can be collected with the use of the senses. It is about what we can perceive with our senses instead of personal opinions. If the observation is done careful and unprejudiced, the facts will be a secure objective basis for science.

In the seventeenth century, modern science became possible. Until that time, the knowledge was based on authority of Aristotle and the Bible. Two schools of thoughts formally state this common view. Empiricism claims that scientific knowledge is based on sense perception. Positivism communicates the same in a broader sense still and was less psychological orientated. The logical positivists build further on the idea of positivism and paid more attention to the logical form of the relationship between scientific knowledge and facts. There are two issues involved in the statement that science is derived from facts. The first is the nature of the facts and how scientists can have access to them, the second is how laws and theories are derived from facts once they have been obtained. The assumed basis of science can be summarized within three statements. Firstly, observers perceive