Philosophy of Science in the Twentieth Century: Four Central Themes

1. Some Historical Background: Inductivism, Russell and the Cambridge School, the Vienna Circle and Popper.

2. Popper's Critique of Inductivism.

3. Duhem's Critique of Inductivism.

Part II: Conventionalism and the Duhem-Quine Thesis:.

4. Poincare's Conventionalism of 1902.

5. The Duhem Thesis and the Quine Thesis.

Part III: The Nature of Observation:.

6. Observation Statements: (a) the Views of Carnap, Neurath, Popper and Duhem.

7. Observation Statements: (b) Some Psychological Findings.

Part IV: The Demarcation between Science and Metaphysics:.

8. Is Metaphysics Meaningless? Wittgenstein, the Vienna Circle and Popper's Critique.

9. Metaphysics in relation to Science: the Views of Popper, Duhem and Quine.

10. Falsification in the light of the Duhem-Quine Thesis.