Undergraduate Program

The interdisciplinary nature of Logic and Philosophy of Science can be seen in the strong contribution LPS makes to the undergraduate curriculum at UC Irvine.

• Logic and Philosophy of Science (in cooperation with the Department of Philosophy) offers a logic sequence that satisfies the Campus-wide Symbolic Systems Requirement . The three courses in the sequence provide excellent preparation for analytical sections of standardized examinations (e.g. LSAT and GRE). They also provide the best possible preparation for careful reasoning and argument generally. These courses are LPS 29 Critical Reasoning, LPS 30 Introduction to Symbolic Logic, and LPS 31 Introduction to Inductive Logic.

• The Specialization in Research and Analytic Methods for undergraduate majors in Social Science allows students to satisfy their requirements by taking LPS 41 Introduction to Philosophy of Science and/or LPS 31 Introduction to Inductive Logic.

• LPS faculty regularly teach a  Social Science Core course for second-year students in the Campuswide Honors Program.

• The sequence Logic and Philosophy of Science course sequence LPS 105A Elementary Set Theory, LPS 105B Metalogic, and LPS 105C Undecidability and Incompleteness satisfies the upper-division mathematics requirement for the Bachelor's Degree in Information and Computer Science.

• The Department of Physics offers a Bachelor's Degree in Physics with a Concentration in Philosophy of Physics. LPS faculty are responsible for several of the required courses in the concentration. The concentration is appropriate for physics students who are interested a more detailed account of our best physical theories. the concentration focuses on the logical and conceptual structure of classical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and relativity. This includes discussing such topics and the quantum measurement problem and the nature of closed causal loops in relativity. The concentration is also concerned with basic questions concerning the status of our best physical theories and the entities they describe: Are these theories true? Probably true? Approximately true? Probably approximately true? And what senses of "approximately true" could one have in mind here? The requirements for the concentration are described in the UCI 2007-2008 general catalogue.