Lecture Series: “What Is This Thing Called Science?” by Dr. Mehdi Nazemi

Teaching the book What Is This Thing Called Science? by Dr. Mehdi Nazemi

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Book Title: What Is This Thing Called Science?

Author: Alan F. Chalmers

Translator: Dr. Saeed Zibakalam

Publisher: The Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities (SAMT)

First Edition: 1999

Twelfth Edition: 2011

Number of Pages: 232

ISBN: 964-459-342-1

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Back Cover Description of What Is This Thing Called Science?:

What Is This Thing Called Science? is a simple and up-to-date introduction to modern theories of philosophical science studies; and as far as possible, it is free of complex terminology. Its extraordinary success has led to its translation into Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Greek, and Chinese. New theories in the philosophy of science have successfully challenged and contested the conventional and traditional conception of science. According to the traditional conception, scientific theories are derived from observation and experiment and can thus be justified and verified. Recent developments in the philosophy of science have shown that this very common conception of the nature of science is completely erroneous; a conception that is still influential and prevalent in most contemporary social sciences and often has harmful and destructive results. The shortcomings and naiveties of empiricist theories are explained in simple language in this book, and new attempts to improve or replace them are described and evaluated in detail.

Alan Chalmers was born in 1939 in the city of Bristol, England, and graduated in physics in 1961. After completing a master's degree at the University of Manchester, he taught physics and the history of science for two years, then pursued a PhD in philosophy at the University of London, graduating in 1971. He is currently an associate professor of the history and philosophy of science at the University of Sydney, Australia. In addition to this book, Chalmers has published over forty research articles in specialized international journals. His other book, Science and Its Fabrication, was published in 1990.

The purpose of writing this book is to present a simple, clear, and elementary outline of modern viewpoints on the nature of science. In the modern era, science is highly esteemed. It seems the general public believes that science and its methods possess special characteristics. Attributing the label "scientific" to certain claims, arguments, and research works is done in a way that implies a kind of privilege or a special type of trust.

"What is the scientific method?" which allegedly leads to particularly distinguished and reliable results? What Is This Thing Called Science? is a simple and up-to-date introduction to modern theories of philosophical science studies; and as far as possible, it is free of complex terminology.

Esteem for science is not confined to daily life and mass media, but is clearly observed in the centers of science and research and in all parts of the world of knowledge.

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Table of Contents of What Is This Thing Called Science?:

Chapter One: Inductivism; Science as Knowledge Derived from Empirical Findings

Chapter Two: The Problem of Induction

Chapter Three: The Dependence of Observations on Theories

Chapter Four: Falsificationism

Chapter Five: Sophisticated Falsificationism; Novel Predictions and the Growth of Science

Chapter Six: The Limitations of Falsificationism

Chapter Seven: Theory as Structure; Research Programs

Chapter Eight: Theory as Structure; Kuhn's Paradigms

Chapter Nine: Rationalism versus Relativism

Chapter Ten: Objectivism

Chapter Eleven: An Objectivist Explanation of Theory Change in Physics

Chapter Twelve: Feyerabend's Anarchistic Epistemology

Chapter Thirteen: Realism, Instrumentalism, and Truth

Chapter Fourteen: Realism

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Audio Recordings of the Lecture Series "What Is This Thing Called Science?" by Dr. Mehdi Nazemi

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Session 4 - Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Session 5

Session 6

Session 7

Session 8 - Part One | Part Two

Session 9

Session 10

Session 11

Session 12

Session 13 - Part One | Part Two

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"These lecture series are on introductory philosophy of science and were prepared in a Telegram environment. The group members had diverse educational backgrounds. The teaching presupposed that the assigned text from the book 'What Is This Thing Called Science?' had been studied before each session. Also, questions raised by members were discussed and resolved within the group."

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