(TTC) Jeffrey L. Kasser, Philosophy of Science

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Philosophy of Science

Part I

Professor Jeffrey L. Kasser

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Jeffrey L. Kasser, Ph.D.

Teaching Assistant Professor, North Carolina State UniversityJeff Kasser grew up in southern Georgia and in northwestern Florida. He received his B.A. from Rice Universityand his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He enjoyed an unusually wide range of teaching opportunities as a graduate student, including teaching philosophy of science to Ph.D. students inMichigan’s School of Nursing. Kasser was the first recipient of the John Dewey Award for Excellence inUndergraduate Education, given by the Department of Philosophy at Michigan. While completing his dissertation,he taught (briefly) at Wesleyan University. His first “real” job was at Colby College, where he taught 10 differentcourses, helped direct the Integrated Studies Program, and received the Charles Bassett Teaching Award in 2003.Kasser’s dissertation concerned Charles S. Peirce’s conception of inquiry, and the classical pragmatism of Peirceand William James serves as the focus of much of his research. His essay “Peirce’s Supposed Psychologism” wonthe 1998 essay prize of the Charles S. Peirce Society. He has also published essays on such topics as the ethics of belief and the nature and importance of truth. He is working (all too slowly!) on a number of projects at theintersection of epistemology, philosophy of science, and American pragmatism.Kasser is married to another philosopher, Katie McShane, so he spends a good bit of time engaged in extracurricular argumentation. When he is not committing philosophy (and sometimes when he is), Kasser enjoys indulging his passion for jazz and blues. He would like to thank the many teachers and colleagues from whom he has learnedabout teaching philosophy, and he is especially grateful for the instruction in philosophy of science he has receivedfrom Baruch Brody, Richard Grandy, James Joyce, Larry Sklar, and Peter Railton. He has also benefited fromdiscussing philosophy of science with Richard Schoonhoven, Daniel Cohen, John Carroll, and Doug Jesseph. Hisdeepest gratitude, of course, goes to Katie McShane.

©2006 The Teaching Company Limited Partnershipi

Table of ContentsPhilosophy of SciencePart I

Professor Biography

............................................................................................i

Course Scope

.......................................................................................................1

Lecture One

Science and Philosophy.............................................3

Lecture Two

Popper and the Problem of Demarcation...................3

Lecture

Three

Further Thoughts on Demarcation.............................9

Lecture Four

Einstein, Measurement, and Meaning......................12

Lecture Five

Classical Empiricism...............................................14

Lecture Six

Logical Positivism and Verifiability........................16

Lecture Seven

Logical Positivism, Science, and Meaning..............19

Lecture Eight

Holism.....................................................................22

Lecture Nine

Discovery and Justification......................................25

Lecture Ten

Induction as Illegitimate..........................................28

Lecture Eleven

Some Solutions and a New Riddle..........................31

Lecture Twelve

Instances and Consequences....................................34

Timeline

.............................................................................................................37

Glossary

.......................................................................................................Part II

Biographical Notes

....................................................................................Part III

Bibliography

..............................................................................................Part III

©2006 The Teaching Company Limited Partnershipii

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