Spring 2027

Philosophy of the Natural Sciences

An introduction to the nature and functions of science, the logic of scientific method, and core concepts including cause, law, theory, probability, determinism, and teleology.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 4

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.85 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.48 GPA, 68.2% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.76 GPA, 90.5% A/AB (n=21 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe some of the key philosophical questions within philosophy of science (particularly in the natural sciences) and the positions that philosophers have defended.

  • Critically evaluate the key positions within philosophy of science.

  • Engage in philosophical discussion with an eye for clarity, precision, understanding, and depth.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing or 3 Credits in PHILOS

    • Junior standing
    • 3 Credits in PHILOS
    take one
PHILOS 520

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • Junior standing
    • 3 Credits in PHILOS

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

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Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.85 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.48 GPA, 68.2% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.76 GPA, 90.5% A/AB (n=21 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Nature and functions of science and the logic of scientific method.
  • Clarification of scientific concepts: cause, law, theory, probability, determinism, and teleology.
  • Key philosophical questions in the philosophy of natural sciences and defended philosophical positions.

Skills

  • Critical evaluation of key positions in philosophy of science and clarification of scientific concepts like cause, law, theory, probability, determinism, and teleology.
  • Engaging in philosophical discussion with clarity, precision, understanding, and depth.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2024— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2024

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

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Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "2491c2d5043cc154ec00b18ba474115bbaf0b2cb4c7daa0fa76b4319af26b6db",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}