Science - and by extension Scientists - have solved many great puzzles and challenges.  From landing exploratory robots on the planet Mars to creating vaccines that defeated major diseases like Polio, to improved farming and agricultural technology allowing a much higher production of food.  There is no doubt that scientists have done great and beneficial things!

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However, science has also been - and is being -  used to create things like nuclear bombs, biological and chemical weapons, and environmentally damaging substances like non-biodegradable plastics.

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Unfortunately, many look to science and scientists as the modern saviors of humankind.  Is that view reasonable?  Does science have the capacity to solve human conflict, which arguably has killed and caused more suffering than all the natural events combined?

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This course will take a hard look at science and scientists and examine the hard questions that scientists usually do not tackle - like are the assumptions used to support certain scientific theories sound; what role should ethics play in scientific achievement; are scientists equipped to solve our greatest problems?

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Students will be expected to participate in the discussions we have, and to apply what they have learned.  It is recommended that a student take The Art of Arguing course before this one.  Homework is optional.  The lessons are designed for high school-aged students or very advanced 8th graders, but many adults would benefit from this course as well.  Classes are generally structured for up to 10 students in six, one-hour lessons delivered using Zoom, an online meeting application.  Click here to go to the page where you can find out how to enroll in this course.

 

For more information on how the course and classes are run or answers to other questions, please see our FAQ page.

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This class will be very loosely based on the excellent book, “Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction” by Samir Okasha.

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This is a six-week class held once a week for one hour per week for a total of six hours of instruction.

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For a full description of this course, please click the Full Course Syllabus to view or download that PDF document.