GE Review: PHIL 254 Science, Knowledge and Objectivity
By: Kelsey Cheng ‘25
Do you need a GE-B? Are you a STEM student with a rebellious humanities streak? This is the class for you. PHIL 254, taught by the hilarious professor Porter Williams, brings up many existential questions. What is science vs pseudoscience? How should scientists falsify theories? What role do ethical values play in science?
I stumbled upon PHIL 254 when I saw that it fulfilled my last GE-B requirement and an elective slot for my Cognitive Science major. Philosophy? Okay, so old guys in togas thinking out loud, right? Science, knowledge, and objectivity promised the course description. Let me guess, I’m going to be learning about Einstein and Newton. A class that combines the two subjects? Yikes. Still, I added it to my course bin and hoped for the best.
About The Class
The philosophy of science, knowledge, and objectivity sounds intimidating, but it’s broken up into digestible-yet-interesting subtopics. Here are some of my favorites we covered:
The sun rose every morning for billions of years on planet Earth. We predict that it will surely rise tomorrow. But are you 100% sure of this prediction? What guarantees that the laws of nature will work tomorrow? We defined inductive and deductive reasoning and how they matter in science through exploring these questions.
What is science and what is pseudoscience? As a cognitive science major that huffs and puffs when someone says that my major is not a real science, this was my chance to see for myself. I learned how we historically have defined science and how a clear definition of “science” may not be possible.
Our chapter about science realism had me questioning if atoms are even real!
What role do ethics and society play in science? I learned about the Tuskegee experiment, gender bias in neuroscience research, and more.
The Professor
Professor Porter Doniphan Williams is one of the most hilarious, laid-back, and intelligent professors I’ve had. He has a background in physics, and you can tell by the way he talks about quantum mechanics off the top of his head. He encourages questions and engages with students meaning conversations last for a good chunk of lecture time. He cares about the material and his students.
Don’t just take it from me – read what other students had to say on trusty Rate My Professor:
Read more at Professor William’s ratemyprofessors page (spoiler: he’s rated 4.3/5).
Grading Breakdown
Difficulty level: 3/5
The class is graded mostly on 8 short assignments and two papers (midterm and final). The short assignments are several quick-response questions (roughly a paragraph each), not graded for accuracy. Midterm and final papers respond to topics we learned in class and ask us to write our own argument. These assignments are easy if you go to class and understand the material.
There are weekly required readings. Some are short but others are 20 pages long and thick with academic jargon. There aren’t any quizzes about these readings, so no one will know you didn’t read them (wink, wink). However, they helped me comprehend the lecture material and prepared me for writing my essays.
Takeaways
There was a learning curve for the material covered in this class. Not having taken philosophy or hard science classes in college, I found myself reading the slides over and over again because I still couldn’t get Bayesian statistics in my head. Still, Professor Williams and the discussion sections provide a lot of support, and students are not tested on details from the lecture.
On the plus side, now I know about a lot of philosophers and scientists! If your goal is to be a jack of all trades when it comes to your education, take this class.
PHIL 254 taught me how to be a good debater by making focused objections to someone’s claim while maintaining open-mindedness. I got to practice these skills in the discussion section.
I loved learning about how theory can be applied to real-life problems. The class covered ethical dilemmas in science, race and gender, and decision-making.
Take This Class If:
Your major is science-related or interdisciplinary (lots of examples about physics and medical research). Be warned: this is a writing-heavy class.
You like to challenge authority and flip ideas on their head.
This class shreds what you think you know about the scientific world and then builds it back up again. It opened my eyes to questions I never even thought to wonder, and then it gave me the framework for answering them for myself.
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