Philosophy 334
Lecture Schedule |
Week |
Topics and Readings |
Sept 7
D,M,P |
Introduction of course and overall course structure and goals
Central problem: Induction and construction of “scientific knowledge”
- trace the emergence of natural philosophy and explore possible meanings of “scientific knowledge and knowledge claims”
- Objectivity and Science, Popper’s notion of objectivity,
The Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley and Hume
- The Dream of Objective Scientific Truth?
- Popper, Falsification, Objectivism vs subjectivism?
Lecture 1
Reading:
from Popper
Next class question assignment... pose a question based on the readings from Kuhn |
Sept 14
D,M,P |
Central Problem: “Historicizing” science and transforming our “image” of it
(see opening sentence of Ch. 1)
- Relation of history & philosophy? Relation of history & philosophy to science?
- What was the positivist, “pre-Kuhnian”, image of science? How is it challenged?
- What is “normal science”? How does change occur in science?
- Lecture - What is Normal Science?
- Dr. Peet's summary of Physics as a paradigm for science
Discussion Questions
Next class question assignment... pose a question based on the readings from SSR |
Sept 21 |
IS Conference - no class
|
Sept 28
D,M |
Central problem: What is a “paradigm” and what are “anomalies”?
- Closer look at rationality in science – does a paradigm = rationality?
- What are the implications of a “paradigm” version of science (dogmatic orthodoxy?) and of anomalies (heresies?) for understanding objectivity?(Tip: read the 1969 Postscript, and/or Hacking pp. xvii-xxv, for further discussions of “paradigm”)
- Anomalies in Science
Discussion Questions
Group Projects
Next class question assignment... pose a question based on the readings from SSR
|
Oct 5
D,M,P |
Central problem: What is a Scientific Revolution?
- Does science progress linearly or does change occur in discrete "leaps"?
- Is science cumulative?
- The “incommensurability” problem
- Physics in Crisis
- Readings for this class:
Discussion Questions
Next class question assignment... pose a question based on the readings from SSR |
Oct 12
D,M |
Central problem: Truth! If the revolution account is true… is science true?
- What is the relation of a scientific paradigm to a worldview?
- Does doing science require a “conversion” ?
- Readings for this class:
MidTerm Exam (last half of class)
|
Oct 19
D,M,P |
Central problem: Is science "social all the way down"?
- Demystifying science: from philosophy of science to “science studies”
- Science criticisms of Kuhn: biology, genetics, & neuroscience, not physics!
- Extensions of Kuhn: the postmodern appropriation. “Anything goes”? Relativism?
|
Oct 26
M,P |
|
Nov 2
D,M,P |
CLASS PRESENTATIONS
Time |
Presenters |
Topic |
6:35 - 7:00 |
Dustin, Emily, Wes, and Trevor |
Objectivity in Science - What is Real? |
7:10 - 7:30 |
Emmanuel, Rebecca, Stuart |
Normal Science |
7:35 - 7:55 |
Jordan, Carmen, Paula |
Normal Science is, Oddly enough, Normal - Anomalies in Science |
8:10 - 8:30 |
Breanna, Cacey, Billy |
Transition Between Paradigms |
8:35 - 8:55 |
Keshia, Matthew |
Out with the Old! - Drawing Parallels - extending Kuhn to other spheres |
|
Nov 9 |
NO CLASS |
Nov 16
M,P |
Central problem: Is science “rational”?
- Introduction to Polanyi
- Polanyi's notion of “appeal of rationality” (perhaps motivated by discussion of Michelson-Morley Expt and Relativity)
- What does it mean for science to be rational? - Can we challenge the notion that modern science is a rational process?
- Is Science Rational
- Readings for this class:
Discussion Questions
Next class question assignment... pose a question based on the readings from Heidegger or combined with previous readings |
Nov 23
D,M,P |
Central problem:What is the relationship between science and technology?
- Is science/technology, more than activity we engage in, our very way of seeing the world?
- Is science/technology, as such, a danger, or our salvation?
- Readings for this class:
- Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology
Discussion Questions
Next class question assignment... pose a question based on the readings from Heidegger or combined with previous readings |
Nov 30
D,M,P |
Central problem: In what ways is the modern, scientific view of the world differentiated from previous ages?
- Does it give us a fundamentally distinct reality?
- Can we think beyond this view, i.e., can we (and how can we) think our age as an age.
Discussion Questions
- Readings for this class:
- Martin Heidegger, The Age of the World Picture (without the Appendices)
Some helpful resources:
|
Dec 7 |
TBA |
|
link to group evaluation form
link to course outline |