PSYb2750 Philosophical foundations of psychological knowledge

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Jan Šerek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Jan Šerek, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Jan Šerek, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! PSY275 Philosophical foundations of psychological knowledge
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course pursues selected issues in epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and argumentation theory. It aims to provide a deeper insight into the debates that students already know or will learn from courses on research methodology in psychology. A particular focus is on the understanding of basic philosophical standpoints and their rationale. A section focused on the theory of argumentation aims to cultivate a general skill of critical thinking in professional debates within psychology.
Learning outcomes
After passing this course, student will be able:
- to identify author's epistemological standpoint in psychological literature;
- to reconstruct arguments for and against basic approaches in philosophy of science and mind;
- to explain how research and statistical methodologies are affected by different philosophical approaches;
- to analyze arguments in terms of their quality and to identify basic argumentation fallacies;
- to asses the validity of arguments from the perspective of propositional logic.
Syllabus
  • 1. Inductivism and positivism
  • 2. Falsification and revolution (Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos)
  • 3. Traditional versus Bayesian epistemology
  • 4. Realism and anti-realism
  • 5. Foundations of logic
  • 6. Foundations of argumentation
  • 7. Foundations of philosophy of mind
Literature
    required literature
  • Vědomí bez redukce : antologie esejů ze současné filosofie mysli. Edited by James Hill - Jakub Mihálik. První vydání. Praha: Smršť, 2015, ix, 229. ISBN 9788087634615. info
  • PICHA, Marek. Kritické myšlení a rekonstrukce argumentu (Critical thinking and reconstruction of argument). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2014, 41 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-6730-1. info
  • BEM, Sacha and Huibert LOOREN DE JONG. Theoretical issues in psychology : an introduction. Third edition. Los Angeles: Sage, 2013, xi, 400. ISBN 9780857029799. info
  • CHALMERS, A. F. What is this thing called science? Fourth edition. Indianapolis: Hackett publishing company, 2013, xxi, 282. ISBN 9781624660382. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussions, reading.
Assessment methods
Three written tests on the reading materials (3 x max. 5 points) and final written test (max. 50 points). Overall 31 or more points is needed to pass.
Language of instruction
Czech
Teacher's information
Contact person is Jan Šerek (e-mail: serek@fss.muni.cz). Individual consultations take place after the lectures or can be arranged via e-mail.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
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