- Explain what philosophy means and name its main branches.
- What is the difference between empirical science and rational science?
- Minerva is studying whether different exercise programmes affect the body composition of male and female participants. Is this activity Science or Philosophy of Science? Give your reason.
- Give two criteria that can help us distinguish science from pseudoscience or non-science. Explain each criterion clearly.
- What is natural science? What is metaphysics?
- A dragon pox vaccine is shown to reduce symptoms among participants in a clinical study. A researcher then concludes: ‘The dragon pox vaccine reduces symptoms in patients.’ Is this reasoning part of formal science or empirical science? Explain the difference between the two.
- Severus is comparing the metaphysical assumptions made by chemists and biologists. Is this activity Science or Philosophy of Science? Give your reason.
- What is the main goal of philosophy, and what tools does philosophy use to reach this goal?
- What are the limitations of the scientific method when dealing with moral, metaphysical, historical, complex, or difficult-to-observe questions?
- Consider this argument:
‘All herbologists are scientists. Neville is a herbologist. Therefore, Neville is a man.’
What form of reasoning is this argument trying to use? - From this argument, identify the major premise, minor premise, and conclusion:
‘All herbologists are scientists. Neville is a herbologist. Therefore, Neville is a man.’ - What is the main characteristic of a philosopher?
- Is the conclusion ‘The dragon pox vaccine reduces symptoms in patients’ reached through deduction or induction? Explain why.
- Define what it means for an argument to be valid.
- Define what it means for an argument to be sound.
- Is this argument valid? Is it sound? Give your reason:
‘All herbologists are scientists. Neville is a herbologist. Therefore, Neville is a man.’ - Luna is studying the differences between bacteria and viruses. Is this an empirical science or a rational science? Explain why.
- Can we guarantee with absolute certainty that the statement ‘The dragon pox vaccine reduces symptoms in patients’ is true? Explain why or why not.
- Philosophy of Science studies the beliefs, foundations, and impacts of science. Explain how this differs from doing ordinary scientific research.
- Give examples of questions or phenomena where scientific methods may be limited, and briefly explain why science may not fully answer them.