Philosophy of Science for Scientists

Lars-Göran Johansson holds a B.Sc. (mathematics and physics) from University of Gothenburg and a Ph.D in theoretical philosophy from Stockholm University. He is author of three books: Introduktion till vetenskapsteorin, Interpreting Quantum Mechanics. A Realist View in Schrödinger’s Vein and (together with Pauliina Remes, George Masterton and Tomas Ekenberg) Kunskapsteori. En introduktion till vetande, berättigande och sanning. He has also published papers and book chapters on  laws of nature, induction, causation, probability  and time. Since 2008 he is professor in theoretical philosophy at Uppsala University.

“Target audience comprises ‘students of engineering, physics, biology, social science, medicine and nursing’ … this book allows readers from a global audience to grasp the ‘flavour’ of the long and rich Germanic and Scandinavian tradition.” (Agustín Adúriz-Bravo, Science and Education, Vol. 28, 2019)“The aim of Lars-Göran Johansson’s textbook Philosophy of Science for Scientists is … to provide an introduction to the philosophy of science for students in all fields of science. … the book is supposed to be suitable for an undergraduate level course in the philosophy of science for philosophy students.” (Amanda Thorell, Theoria, Vol. 83, 2017)“Lars-Göran Johansson’s recent book Philosophy of science for scientists is the only textbook in the philosophy of science that is addressed specifically to an audience consisting of scientists. … In its breadth of treated topics, the book can serve as a basic text to many different courses in the philosophy of science.”(Maarten Franssen, Metascience, Vol. 26, 2017)“Philosophy of Science for Scientists by Lars-Goran Johansson: a lovely textbook for undergraduates. It is a highly readable introduction to how one can view the practice of science. … this is an excellent introduction to understanding science in a general sense. Students and practitioners will find it worthwhile to read and discuss.” (David S. Mazel, MAA Reviews, maa.org, November, 2016)“This is an excellent book that can serve as a very appropriate textbook for the first course in Philosophy of Science. … it is a very well written book and is an enjoyable reading. … It is well written by a great authority in the field and I strongly recommend it to you if you are interested in to understand what science is and why science is important for knowledge and our understanding of reality.” (Philosophy, Religion and Science Book Reviews, Bookinspections.wordpress.com, July, 2016)

• Preface and overview of the bookPart 1: What is science?.- 1. The Evolution of Science.- 2. Knowledge.- 3. Hypotheses and Hypothesis Testing.- 4. On Scientific Data.- 5. Qualitative Data and Methods.- 6. Theories about the Development of Science.- Part 2. Philosophical reflections on four core concepts in science: causes, explanations, laws and models.- 7. On Causes and Correlations.- 8. Explanations.- 9. Explanation in the Humanities and Social Sciences.- 10. Scientific Laws.- 11. Theories, Models and Reality.- Part 3. Some auxiliaries.- 12. The Mind-Body Problem.- 13. Science and Values.- 14. Some trends in science.- Appendix.- Logical Forms.- Index.