Philosophy of Science (pre-PhD)
Midterm exam

Midterm exam

Philosophy of Science
Instructor: Sandy Berkovski

Bilkent University
Fall 2010

Choose two of the following topics. Consult the essay writing guidelines here.
  1. `To reject one paradigm without simultaneously substituting another is to reject science itself.' Explain.
  2. `Paradigm choice can never be unequivocally settled by logic and experiment alone.' Why? What does this tell us about the necessity of scientific revolutions?
  3. What is the distinction between `puzzles' and `anomalies'? Cite specific examples in support of your claim(s).
  4. `All historically significant theories have agreed with the facts.' How can this claim be used by Kuhn in the polemic with Popper?
Exam sheets must be sent in an email attachment to sandy.berkovski+philsci@gmail.com by 22:00 on 27 October 2010. Your sheets must be saved either in PDF (strongly preferred) or in Microsoft Word 2003 format. Each hour of the delay in the submission of exam sheets will entail a reduction of five points from the exam grade.


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On 26 Oct 2010, 11:28.