3.10802 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

This course grounds students in the major theories of science pertinent to the human understanding of change through continuous learning, in terms of knowledge and societal transformations. The importance of this exercise stems from its explication of the rationale underpinning the motives of those within strategic management who prefer comprehensive change and those on the other hand who prefer incremental change. It also explicates the views of those who advance the mixed-scanning approach to change or contingency theory. First, it explicates the views of Karl Popper whose works provide the philosophical support for the art of muddling through or incrementalism. Popper's preference for this approach compares with the incremental pursuit of objective knowledge through conjectures and refutations in his writings on the philosophy of science. The focus is on Thomas Khun’s description of the history of science as being a sequence of periods of normal science according to a certain paradigm and revolutionary

periods in which the paradigm is overthrown resulting in paradigmatic change. The views of those writing on administrative science arguing for mixed and contingency approaches conclude the discussion.

Contact hours: Four hours per week.

Text:

Bloor, D., 1991, Knowledge and social imagery, 2nd Ed., The University of Chicago Press, Chicago