LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 2
- Academic year
- 2018/2019 Syllabus of previous years
- Official course title
- LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 2
- Course code
- LT9027 (AF:248417 AR:135953)
- Modality
- On campus classes
- ECTS credits
- 6
- Degree level
- Bachelor's Degree Programme
- Educational sector code
- M-FIL/02
- Period
- 4th Term
- Course year
- 2
- Moodle
- Go to Moodle page
Contribution of the course to the overall degree programme goals
Contribution of the course to the overall degree programme goals
Following on Logic&PhilSci 1, this course explores the main debates, themes and theories of contemporary philosophy of science, and investigates fascinating, challenging questions such as: How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully "objective?" What, really, can be defined as science? And, how does science affect our self-image?
Following on Logic&PhilSci 1, this course explores the main debates, themes and theories of contemporary philosophy of science, and investigates fascinating, challenging questions such as: How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully "objective?" What, really, can be defined as science? And, how does science affect our self-image?
Expected learning outcomes
Expected learning outcomes
Having a good sense of science in its philosophical context enables us to critically assess the role of science both in our society and in our self-image.
Having a good sense of science in its philosophical context enables us to critically assess the role of science both in our society and in our self-image.
Pre-requirements
Logic&PhilSci 1
Contents
Structure
Week 1: Philosophy of science: the central issues
26/3 Science or Pseudoscience?
27/3 The debate over scientific realism
Week 2: Perspectives on scientific change and scientific revolutions
2/4 The Scientific Revolution in perspective 1
3/4 The Scientific Revolution in perspective 2
Week 3: Philosophical debates in logic, mathematics and biology
9/4 Frege’s and Russell’s philosophy of logic
10/4 Philosophical problems related to Darwin’s theory of natural selection
Week 4: Philosophical debates in psychology
16/4 Freud and the psychoanalytic mode of observation: between sentiment and science 1
17/4 Freud and the psychoanalytic mode of observation: between sentiment and science 2
Week 5: Continental perspectives on the philosophy of science
23/4 Bruno Latour: ‘Opening Pandora’s Box’
24/4 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method
Week 6
30/4: Exam
Week 1: Philosophy of science: the central issues
26/3 Science or Pseudoscience?
27/3 The debate over scientific realism
Week 2: Perspectives on scientific change and scientific revolutions
2/4 The Scientific Revolution in perspective 1
3/4 The Scientific Revolution in perspective 2
Week 3: Philosophical debates in logic, mathematics and biology
9/4 Frege’s and Russell’s philosophy of logic
10/4 Philosophical problems related to Darwin’s theory of natural selection
Week 4: Philosophical debates in psychology
16/4 Freud and the psychoanalytic mode of observation: between sentiment and science 1
17/4 Freud and the psychoanalytic mode of observation: between sentiment and science 2
Week 5: Continental perspectives on the philosophy of science
23/4 Bruno Latour: ‘Opening Pandora’s Box’
24/4 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method
Week 6
30/4: Exam
Referral texts
Literature / Referral Texts
Week 1
Class 1
Secondary literature
Peter Dear, “Introduction: Science as Natural Philosophy, Science as Instrumentality”, Introduction in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006) 14-27.
Martin Curd, J.A. Cover, and Christopher Pincock (eds.), “Science or Pseudoscience”, in Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues (W.W. Norton, 2012), 1-10.
Class 2
James Woodward, ‘Scientific Explanation’, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-explanation/
John Losee, “The Debate over Scientific Realism”, chapter 18 in A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press, 2001) 252-263.
Week 2
Class 3
Secondary literature
Peter Dear, ‘Introduction’. In Revolutionising the Sciences: European Knowledge and Its Ambitions, 1500-1700 (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001) 1-9.
Steven Shapin, ‘Introduction’, in The Scientific Revolution (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1996) 1-14.
Class 4
Alexander Bird, ‘Thomas Kuhn’, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thomas-kuhn/
Primary source
Thomas Kuhn, “A Role for History”, “The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions” and “Revolutions as Changes of World View”, chapters 1, 9 and 10 in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962) resp. at 1– 9, 92-110, and 111-134.
Week 3
Class 5
Secondary literature
Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, chap XXI “Logics and the Foundations of Mathematics: Frege and Russell” (Malden, MA etc.: Blackwell, 1998/2006) 351-364.
Class 6
Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, chap XX ‘Three Modern Masters: Charles Darwin’ (Malden, MA etc.: Blackwell, 1998/2006) 333-350.
Peter Dear, “Design and Disorder: The Origin of Species”, Chapter 4 in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006) 104-127.
Primary source
Darwin, The Origin of Species, chapter 4 “Natural Selection”, 1859, 78-122 [NB: read at least the summary of the chapter at 119-122]. http://www.f.waseda.jp/sidoli/Darwin_Origin_Of_Species.pdf
Week 4
Class 7
Secondary literature
Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, chap XX ‘Three Modern Masters: Sigmund Freud’ (Malden, MA etc.: Blackwell, 1998/2006) 333-350.
Elizabeth Lunbeck, ‘Empathy as a Psychoanalytic Mode of Observation: Between Sentiment and Science’, chap. 10 in Lorraine Daston and Elizabeth Lunbeck (eds.), Histories of Scientific Observation, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2011) 255-276.
Class 8
Primary source
Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1916/17), 3129-3135.
https://freudianassociation.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Sigmund_Freud_1920_Introductory.pdf
Week 5
Class 9
Secondary literature
Interview by Ava Kofman “Bruno Latour, the Post-Truth Philosopher, Mounts a Defense of Science”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/magazine/bruno-latour-post-truth-philosopher-science.html
Primary source
Bruno Latour (1987), “Opening Pandora’s Box”, in: B. Latour, Science in Action (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press) 1-17.
Class 10
Secondary literature
Jeff Malpas, “Hans-Georg Gadamer”’ in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gadamer/
Primary source
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, “Introduction” and Part One “The Question of Truth as it Emerges in the Experience of Art”, in Truth and Method (1960; copy 1998) resp. at 15-18 and 29-160 [NB read at least the first part of this chapter: “The guiding concepts of humanis
Week 1
Class 1
Secondary literature
Peter Dear, “Introduction: Science as Natural Philosophy, Science as Instrumentality”, Introduction in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006) 14-27.
Martin Curd, J.A. Cover, and Christopher Pincock (eds.), “Science or Pseudoscience”, in Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues (W.W. Norton, 2012), 1-10.
Class 2
James Woodward, ‘Scientific Explanation’, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-explanation/
John Losee, “The Debate over Scientific Realism”, chapter 18 in A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press, 2001) 252-263.
Week 2
Class 3
Secondary literature
Peter Dear, ‘Introduction’. In Revolutionising the Sciences: European Knowledge and Its Ambitions, 1500-1700 (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001) 1-9.
Steven Shapin, ‘Introduction’, in The Scientific Revolution (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1996) 1-14.
Class 4
Alexander Bird, ‘Thomas Kuhn’, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thomas-kuhn/
Primary source
Thomas Kuhn, “A Role for History”, “The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions” and “Revolutions as Changes of World View”, chapters 1, 9 and 10 in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962) resp. at 1– 9, 92-110, and 111-134.
Week 3
Class 5
Secondary literature
Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, chap XXI “Logics and the Foundations of Mathematics: Frege and Russell” (Malden, MA etc.: Blackwell, 1998/2006) 351-364.
Class 6
Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, chap XX ‘Three Modern Masters: Charles Darwin’ (Malden, MA etc.: Blackwell, 1998/2006) 333-350.
Peter Dear, “Design and Disorder: The Origin of Species”, Chapter 4 in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006) 104-127.
Primary source
Darwin, The Origin of Species, chapter 4 “Natural Selection”, 1859, 78-122 [NB: read at least the summary of the chapter at 119-122]. http://www.f.waseda.jp/sidoli/Darwin_Origin_Of_Species.pdf
Week 4
Class 7
Secondary literature
Anthony Kenny, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, chap XX ‘Three Modern Masters: Sigmund Freud’ (Malden, MA etc.: Blackwell, 1998/2006) 333-350.
Elizabeth Lunbeck, ‘Empathy as a Psychoanalytic Mode of Observation: Between Sentiment and Science’, chap. 10 in Lorraine Daston and Elizabeth Lunbeck (eds.), Histories of Scientific Observation, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2011) 255-276.
Class 8
Primary source
Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1916/17), 3129-3135.
https://freudianassociation.org/en/wp-content/uploads/Sigmund_Freud_1920_Introductory.pdf
Week 5
Class 9
Secondary literature
Interview by Ava Kofman “Bruno Latour, the Post-Truth Philosopher, Mounts a Defense of Science”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/magazine/bruno-latour-post-truth-philosopher-science.html
Primary source
Bruno Latour (1987), “Opening Pandora’s Box”, in: B. Latour, Science in Action (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press) 1-17.
Class 10
Secondary literature
Jeff Malpas, “Hans-Georg Gadamer”’ in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gadamer/
Primary source
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, “Introduction” and Part One “The Question of Truth as it Emerges in the Experience of Art”, in Truth and Method (1960; copy 1998) resp. at 15-18 and 29-160 [NB read at least the first part of this chapter: “The guiding concepts of humanis
Assessment methods
Exam/Assessments methods
The final exam (date: 14/5 or 15/5 2019 [TBC asap]) consists of two questions related to the five themes presented in the course. In addition, all students are asked to write an essay [1] of 1000 words at the beginning of the course that consists of their view on the role of science both in society and their self-image, and another essay [2 ] of 1000 words at the end of the course that should reflect on the question of how the course has changed these views. Both essays should be uploaded on Moodle: the first one before 15 April 2019 and the second one before 30 April 2019. Students may bring all course related materials to the exam. It is permitted to use computers both to consult texts and to answer the questions. On Moodle pigeon holes will be arranged to upload the essays and exam results. The final score of the exam is composed as follows: essay 1: (20%), essay 2: (20%), exam: 60%).
Essay themes:
Essay 1: What can philosophy of science learn from the history of science? Explain on the basis of a case study addressed in the course.
Essay 2: Describe one of the debates in the philosophy of science addressed in the course. Explain both positions. Choose, motivate and defend the point of view that has your preference.
The final exam (date: 14/5 or 15/5 2019 [TBC asap]) consists of two questions related to the five themes presented in the course. In addition, all students are asked to write an essay [1] of 1000 words at the beginning of the course that consists of their view on the role of science both in society and their self-image, and another essay [2 ] of 1000 words at the end of the course that should reflect on the question of how the course has changed these views. Both essays should be uploaded on Moodle: the first one before 15 April 2019 and the second one before 30 April 2019. Students may bring all course related materials to the exam. It is permitted to use computers both to consult texts and to answer the questions. On Moodle pigeon holes will be arranged to upload the essays and exam results. The final score of the exam is composed as follows: essay 1: (20%), essay 2: (20%), exam: 60%).
Essay themes:
Essay 1: What can philosophy of science learn from the history of science? Explain on the basis of a case study addressed in the course.
Essay 2: Describe one of the debates in the philosophy of science addressed in the course. Explain both positions. Choose, motivate and defend the point of view that has your preference.
Teaching methods
Formal lectures combined with interactive assignments.
Teaching language
English
Type of exam
written
This programme is provisional and there could still be changes in its contents.
Last update of the programme: 24/03/2019