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

  • Readings for this class:
    • SSR: Chp 4 - Chp 7

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:
    • SSR: Chp 8 - Chp 13

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

Central problem: What are Critical Realism, Personalism and Anitscientistic Phenomenology - and why should I care?

Readings for this class:

Smith (What is a Person?)

Figures to accompany Smith

dR. pEET'S fAMOUS LIST OF iSMs!

Spiritual Hierarchy of Kowledge

Quadrant Diagram

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