PHI3400 Philosophy of Science

Basic Info

 

Title

Philosophy of Science

Prefix and Number

PHI 3400 U01

Section

U01

Semester/Year

Spring 2026

Location

CASE 143

Day/Time

MW 12:00 – 1:15

Instructor

Kenton Harris

Instructor Office

DM 343 B (MMC)

Instructor Telephone Number

(305) 348-3516

Instructor E-mail

harrisk@fiu.edu

Instructor Web Site

http://faculty.fiu.edu/~harrisk/

Text(s)

Assigned Articles

Tests

One Exam

Papers

One Thesis Paper:

  • First Draft
  • Peer Review
  • Final Draft

Final Exam

Yes During Final Exam Week

 

Important Dates:

 

Grades Assignment

Date Due

Percentage of Final Grade

 

 

 

Exam 1

2/18

30%

 

 

 

Paper 1a

3/2

35%

 

Peer Review

3/9

Paper 1b

3/16

Final Exam

As scheduled by the University

 

35%

Last Day to Drop without Incurring Financial Liability

1/11/26 (Sunday)

Last Day to Apply for Fall 2024 Graduation

1/23/25 (Saturday)

Last Day to Drop with a DR

3/16/26 (Monday)

 

 

Link to Lesson Plan and Lecture Notes

 

https://faculty.fiu.edu/~harrisk/Notes/

 

C:\Users\Kenton Personal Lapt\OneDrive - Florida International University\FIU One Drive Teaching Files\KS- Teaching\Web Page\1261 PHI3400 Lesson Plan.htm

 

I take “the philosophy of X” (e.g. The philosophy of religion, the philosophy of art, the philosophy of science, etc.) to be an examination of philosophical puzzles that arise in the concepts and the practice of “X.” Accordingly, in this course we will examine philosophical puzzles such as “What exactly is science?” “How is science to be distinguished from pseudoscience?” etc. as well as an examination of philosophically significant concepts that arise in the practice of science such as “causality.” “confirmation,” ”laws of science,” “induction,” etc. The history of science revels that science rarely follows the idealized “scientific method" consisting of hypothesis, testing, publication and acceptance. Instead, many important scientific discoveries come about as a result of informed guesses, dumb luck, or seemingly unrelated social factors. We will begin with a review of the history of science and, consequently, the of a history of the philosophy.  We shall proceed to look at the “standard view” of science and challenges to that view.  We shall conclude with critiques of the fundamental presumptions of modern science from two Thomases:  those of Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Nagel.

Learning Outcomes:

 

Successful students will

 

  1. Identify and explain key concepts in science (such a induction, causality, laws of nature, etc.) which require philosophical examination and are the subject of philosophical debates.
  2. Identify  and explain historic and contemporary controversies within philosophy of science such as, demarcation, realism versus constructivism, the nature of confirmation, teleology, the nature of scientific progress
  3. Identify and explain scientism.  Students will understand the debate between those who suggest that science is the preeminent form of rational inquiry (if not in fact the only form of rational inquiry) and those who challenged this view.

 

Readings:

 

All assigned readings will be available on-line, either on my website or on Canvas pages for this course.

 

Requirements: 1 exam, one paper and a final exam.

 

Basic Policies:

 

Below are listed various procedural policies.  By remaining a registered student in this course you indicate your acceptance of the policies listed in this syllabus.

 

Attendance and make-up policies:

 

1.       Class participation and in-class assignments are an integral part of a satisfactory grade.  Poor attendance will result in a lower grade.

 

2.       With respect to make-up exams, documented emergencies will be dealt with on an individual basis.

 

Drops:

 

Students unable to continue in the course should notify the instructor.  It is their responsibility to fill out official withdrawal forms with the registrar's office. If they do not officially withdraw, they will receive an F for the course.

 

Special Learning Needs:

 

Students with documented special learning needs must have Disability Resource Center (http://drc.fiu.edu/) inform the instructor so that accommodations can be made when necessary for testing, note taking or, paper writing.

 

Requirements and Grading:

 

Requirements:

 

Paper Assignment

 

The second set of exercises is a longer paper assignment which has three elements: You will

 

  1. Write a first draft
  2. Submit two peer reviews
  3. Write a final draft.

 

Note about the peer reviews:

 

Because of the way Canvas is configured, you must submit these peer reviews in two different ways.

 

1.       First you must submit the comments to your peers using the comments box provided by Canvas next to your peer’s paper.

2.       However, you must also copy and paste the same comments into a document and upload that document to the assignment in your assignments list entitled “Peer Review.”

 

If you only submit your peer comments via the assignments box, your classmates will not have access to them.  If you only submit your peer review comments into the comments box on your classmates’ papers, I will not receive a copy nor will I know when you have completed this assignment. 

 

Therefore, it is important that you do both. You must submit the peer review comments into the comments box on your peers’ papers, but you must also submit those same comments in a separate document to me using the assignments box. 

 

I understand that this is a little confusing, but it's the best I can do given the way Canvas has configured this assignment.

 

These assignments will receive a single grade to be counted in the student’s final average.  The grade will reflect a composite

 

  1. of the initial quality of the paper submission
  2. the quality of the peer review the student provides
  3. the degree to which the second final paper is further developed incorporating feedback from the peer reviewer.

 

Examination:

 

There will be one exam as designated by the lesson plan. This exam will be count as 25% of the final average.

 

Final Examination:

 

A final examination will be given during the final exam week as specified by the University calendar.  The final exam will be drawn from class lectures and text material. The final exam will be not be cumulative, but rather cover material presented after the first exam.  The final exam will count for 40% of the final grade.

 

Grading:

 

Grades will be based on the

 

1.       paper (35% total)

2.       in-class exam (30% total)

3.       final exam (35% total).

 

Grading Scale:   

 

                                                A = (100-94)        A- = (93-92)

                B+ = (91-88)        B = (87-84)           B- = (83-81)

                C+ = (80-77)        C = (76-70)           D = (69-60)

                F = (59-0)

 

ATTENTION STUDENTS: NOTE both the grading scale and the exam and paper dates now.  No exceptions will be made so you must decide NOW whether these terms are acceptable to you or not or whether they interfere will travel plans or per­sonal commit­ments.  It is your decision to remain in this course under the specified conditions and I encourage each of you to thoughtfully consider this before the drop/add deadline.