Philosophy of science for scientists / Lars-G©œran Johansson.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-253) and index

Part 1. What is science? The evolution of science -- Knowledge -- Hypotheses and hypothesis testing -- On scientific data -- Qualitative data and methods -- Theories about the development of science -- Part 2. Philosophical reflections on four core concepts in science : causes, explanations, laws and models. On causes and correlations -- Explanations -- Explanation in the humanities and social sciences -- Scientific laws -- Theories, models and reality -- Part 3. Some auxiliaries. The mind-body problem -- Science and values -- Some trends in science -- Appendix: Logical forms.

"Offers an introduction to the philosophy of science. It helps undergraduate students from the natural, the human and social sciences to gain an understanding of what science is, how it has developed, what its core traits are, how to distinguish between science and pseudo-science and to discover what a scientific attitude is. It argues against the common assumption that there is fundamental difference between natural and human science, with natural science being concerned with testing hypotheses and discovering natural laws, and the aim of human and some social sciences being to understand the meanings of individual and social group actions. Instead examines the similarities between the sciences and shows how the testing of hypotheses and doing interpretation/hermeneutics are similar activities"--From publisher description.