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Preface 1. WHY PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE? The relationship between scienceand philosophy. Scientific questions and questions about science. Modernscience as philosophy. Understanding science and understanding Westerncivilization 2. THE NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION AND THE PHILOSOPHICALPROBLEMS IT RAISES Defining scientific explanation. Why do laws explain?Counter-examples and the pragmatics of explanation. Causation andexplanation. Explaining why and explaining how. Conclusion 3. SCIENTIFICTHEORIES, EPISTEMOLOGY AND METAPHYSICS Hypothetico-deductivism. The problemof theoretical terms and the things they name. Theories and models. Theepistemology of scientific testing. Underdetermination 4. THE CHALLENGE OFHISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE A place for history? No place for firstphilosophy? From philosophy to history to relativism. Could the earth reallybe flat? Bibliography Index