Philosophy of Science

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

This book on Philosophy of Science is an attempt to introduce the topic to the students of Indian Universities. Part I of this book covers the syllabus prescribed by the University Grants Commission (U.G.C.) for the subject Philosophy of Science for M.A. students (Chapter I to Chapter V).

Part II of this book provides some basic understanding on Philosophy of Mathematics, structure of the universe, Scientific Explanation and Science and Humanity (Chapter VI to Chapter IX). Most of the books on Philosophy of science focus on Karl Popper's 'falsification theory' and Thomas Kuhn's 'paradigm shift'. But Philosophy of Science is not just a 'talk' on Science; it must include the knowledge of the contents of basic sciences such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The more one knows the 'facts' of science, the wider is the scope for philosophising science. There are journals on philosophy of science published in England and America. The contributors are mostly experts in Engineering, Medicine, Bio- sciences and Mathematical Sciences. For critical analysis of the conclusions of the sciences one should have expertise in the field of science. Such criticisms will be conducive for the further developments of the sciences.

I hope this book will be useful to the readers who are interested in Philosophy of Science.

Dr A. Appan Ramanujam (b. 1947) did his B.Sc. (Physics) from Madurai University and M.A. (Philosophy) and Ph.D. from Annamalai University. He was awarded the Junior Research Fellowship by the U.G.C. in 1976. Apart from research papers, articles and scripts on philosophical topics, he delivered lectures on Philosophy of Science. Starting his career as a Demonstrator in Physics (1969-1971) at A.J. College, Sivakasi, he retired as a Head of the Department of Philosophy, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai in 2006. His main interests are Ethics, Psychology, Western Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Vaisnavism.

He participated as a symposiast at the 79th session of the Indian Philosophical Congress held at Madurai College, Madurai in 2004 and at the World Philosophy Congress held at Delhi University, New Delhi in 2006. The All India Sattada Srivaisnava Association has conferred on him the title "Vaisnava Kula Bhushana" for his original contribution to Vaisnavism. His book Philosophy and Cultural Traditions of East Asia, won the Best Book Award at 95th session of the Indian Philosophical Congress held at Wardha, December 2022.

'Philosophy of Science' as a subject of study requires the knowledge of the fundamental concepts of philosophy and the facts of various branches of science. Many colleges and universities do not offer Philosophy of Science as a subject of study because of the need for expertise in both science and philosophy.

This book analyses various steps in arriving at the conclusions of science such as Laws, Principles, Hypothesis and Theories. Observation, analysis of data, Hypothesis and Laws of Science are the various steps. Induction and Deduction play an important role in scientific explanation. The limitations of Induction are elaborated by Francis Bacon and David Hume. Karl Popper says that all scientific theories are only provisionally true because any scientific theory can be falsified by any later developments in Science. For Thomas Kuhn, Scientific Theories are Paradigm shifts in course of time.