HU3700 Final ExaminationFall, 2008

This is a “take home” exam. Answer five (5) of the following questions. Each of your answers should be in the form of an essay. Your answers should be thorough and concise. Avoid irrelevant discussion.

You may consult your notes, textbook, and any published source. However, you may not discuss with any person, other than the course instructor, any aspect of this exam. If you are unclear about an exam question or the exam instructions, contact the course instructor for clarification. Your completed exam is due in the instructor’s office, Room 326 Walker, no later than 4 PM, Thursday, December 18, 2008.

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  1. What exactly is inductivism? Give a clear, precise statement of the inductivist position. In particular, what does inductivism say about each of the following: the collecting of data, the forming of scientific hypotheses, and the kind of reasoning that is involved in hypothesis formation? What are the main objections to inductivism? Explain in precise detail. Be specific.
  1. What exactly is falsificationism (Popper’s original version)? Give a clear, precise statement of the falsificationist position. What does falsificationism say about each of the following: the collecting of data, the forming of scientific hypotheses, and the kind of reasoning that is involved in hypothesis formation and testing? What does falsificationism say about the difference between science and pseudoscience? What are the main objections to falsificationism? Explain in precise detail. Be specific.
  1. According to Thomas Kuhn, what exactly is a scientific revolution? What kinds of changes take place when a scientific revolution occurs? What sorts of factors lead to a scientific revolution, according to Kuhn? In what respects does he say that a scientific revolution is like a “Gestalt switch” or a “religious conversion”? Explain carefully and precisely. Be specific.
  1. What does Imre Lakatos mean by the term “research program”? What are the 4 components of a research program? How, according to Lakatos, are research programs to be evaluated? Under what conditions does Lakatos say that a research program shouldbe abandoned? Be precise and specific.
  1. What exactly is scientific realism? What exactly is scientific antirealism? What are the main arguments for each view? Give precise statements of those arguments. Be specific.
  1. According to Judge Thomas Jones’s Memorandum Opinion in Kitzmiller, et al v. Dover Area School District, what are the three ways in which intelligent design theory fails to qualify as a genuinely scientific theory? Would the philosophers of science that we have studied in this course (Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend) agree with Judge Jones’s criteria? Why or why not? Give clear, precise reasons for your answers. Be specific. .