science, philosophy of

Systematic study of how science works (or should work) and of the concepts used in scientific enquiry, such as the laws of nature, causation, probability, explanation, and induction (reasoning from the particular to the general). Philosophers of science also consider the nature of scientific systems.

Some hold that scientific systems are abstract systems that we fit to the world, as we might choose between Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries. In addition, these philosophers consider in what sense theoretical entities like electrons can be said to exist.