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Department of Philosophy

University of Peradeniya

PHY 405 - Philosophy of Science

The course introduces the students to the methodologies of Natural Science, elements of History of Science and major issues in the Philosophy of Science.

Course content:

  • Methodologies of Science, inductive, deductive verificationist and falsificationist
  • Empiricist and Positivist philosophies of science
  • Development of Conventionalism and falsificationism
  • Realism vs. Instrumentalism; Causality; the nature of scientific explanation
  • Relativism, Methodology of Research Programmes, Objectivism
  • History of Science: The Copernican Revolution and after

Reading List
1. Hempel, C.G.1966. Philosophy of Natural Science. Prentice Hall.
2. Popper, Karl.1963. Conjectures and Refutations. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
3. Salmon, Wesley1966. The Foundations of Scientific Inference. University of Pittsburg Press.
4. Kuhn, T.S.1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolution. (2nd Edition), Chicago University Press.
5. Feyerabad, P.K.1970. Against Method. Verso.
6. Kuhn, T.S.1957. The Copernican Revolution. Harvard University Press.
7. Gunaratne, R.D.2002. Vidyathmaka Kramaya. (Revised edition).

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