NAT510: Philosophy of Physics

The course presupposes a broad knowledge in physics as
obtained through the bachelor-degree as the course’s aim is to discuss
physics as a topic.

In relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit focus of the course to:

• Give the competence to reflect on physics as a subject and physics’ role in the society.
• Give skills to reason and argue about themes in the philosophy of science.
• Give knowledge and understanding of positions in the philosophy of science.

The learning objective of the course is that the student demonstrates the ability to:

• reproduce central parts of the literature of the course.
• use the notions and concepts from the course correctly.
• relate relevant issues in physics to the theories presented in the course.
• Argue for independent points of view relevant for this course.

At the faculty of science, teaching is organized after the three-phase model ie. intro, training and study phase.

The themes listed will be introduced in lectures and will afterwards be
discussed in relation to mathematics in smaller classes. The exercises
will sometimes have lectures by the responsible teacher but mostly they
will be based on active participation. During the course all students
will be giving a presentation of chosen topic in a group. Note that a
presentation is a prerequisite to go to the final exam

Activities during the study phase: Study phase hours should be used to prepare the presentation.