Science: Key Concepts in Philosophy

Steven French is Professor of the Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds, UK. He is the author of Science and Partial Truth (OUP, 2003) and numerous articles on the philosophy of science.

• Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Discovery - Flash of Genius or Careful Observation; Chapter 3: Discovery - Heuristic Moves; Chapter 4: Evidence - Verification and Falsification; Chapter 5: Evidence - There's More to Seeing Than Meets the Eye; Chapter 6: Evidence - The Secret Life of the Experiment; Chapter 7: Realism - The Ultimate Argument; Chapter 8: Realism - The Role and Function of Theories; Chapter 9: Independence - Science as Social Activity; Chapter 10: Independence - 'Facts' and 'Truth'; Chapter 11: Where Does the Philosophy of Science Go From Here?

'The book consists of ten chapters, each of which segues clearly into the next...There are four Study Exercises which probe students' understanding of the material and challenge them to think about further issues associated with the material. These questions could serve as a starting point for a classroom discussion, or even as potential topics for student essays...French takes a conversational and light-hearted tone, so that the prose is more engaging for non-scholars than many other introductions to philosophy of science...For graduate students in other philosophical fields, this text could prove useful as a quick introduction to or refresher for some core ideas in philosophy of science.' Holly Andersen, University of Pittsburgh, Metascience