Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-31T02:48:07.556Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Novel Exercise for Teaching the Philosophy of Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Gary Hardcastle  and
Matthew H. Slater
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We describe a simple, flexible exercise that can be implemented in the philosophy of science classroom: students are asked to determine the contents of a closed container without opening it. This exercise has revealed itself as a useful platform from which to examine a wide range of issues in the philosophy of science and may, we suggest, even help us think about improving the public understanding of science.

Type
General Philosophy of Science
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 81 , Issue 5 , December 2014 , pp. 1184 - 1196
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

We thank the participants of our PSA 2012 Symposium and an anonymous referee for this journal for comments.

References

Dewey, John. 1997. Democracy and Education. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Kitcher, Philip. 2011. “Philosophy Inside Out.” Metaphilosophy 42 (3): 248–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, Thomas. 1962/1962. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
National Science Foundation. 2012. “Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding.” In Science and Engineering Indicators 2012, chap. 7. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/pdf/c07.pdf.Google Scholar
Stanford, P. Kyle. 2006. Exceeding Our Grasp: Science, History, and the Problem of Unconceived Alternatives. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar