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
there are 18 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
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)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/PSYb2750