|
Philosophy
3341 |
Everything on this schedule is tentative, and you will notice that there are about three weeks toward the end of the semester that at this point have not been filled in. We will determine the topics and readings for those weeks based on the interests of the students in the class.
|
date |
topic |
reading assignment |
| Mon, Aug 28 |
What is science? Philosophy? Philosophy of science? |
none |
|
Wed, Aug 30 |
Demarcation 1: what distinguishes science from nonscience? |
Popper, Kuhn, Thagard (C&C 3-19, 27-37) |
| Monday Sept 4 | No Class | Labor Day |
| Wed, Sept 6 |
Demarcation 2: what distinguishes science from pseudoscience? |
Ruse, Laudan, Ruse (C&C 38-61) |
| Mon, Sept 11 |
Explanation 1: Hempel's Model |
Carnap, Hempel, Hempel, Hempel (C&C 678 - 720); Ruben (C&C 720-745) [Most important: Hempel, "Two Basic Types . . .," and Ruben] |
| Wed, Sept 13 |
Explanation 2: Contextual Factors |
Bas van Fraassen, selection from The Scientific Image (handout) |
| Mon, Sept 18 |
Realism and Anti-Realism 1 |
Maxwell, van Fraassen (in C&C 1052-1087) |
| Wed, Sept 20 |
Realism and Anti-Realism 2: Observation |
Hacking, "Observation" and "Microscopes" (handout); van Fraassen, APA paper (handout) |
| Mon, Sept 25 |
Realism and Anti-Realism 3: NOA |
Fine (in C&C 1186-1208) |
| Wed, Sept 27 |
Theories |
handout on semantic view of theories |
| Mon, Oct 2 |
Induction & Confirmation 1: Problems of Induction and Underdetermination |
Lipton, Popper, Salmon (C&C 412-444); Duhem, Laudan (C&C
257-79, 320-353) |
| Wed, Oct 4 |
Induction & Confirmation 2: Intro to Probability Theory; Bayes's Theorem Introduced and Proved |
"Bayes for Beginners" (C&C 627-638) |
| Mon, Oct 9 |
Induction & Confirmation 3: |
Rest of C&C's "Commentary" to Chapter 5
(C&C 638-674) |
| Wed, Oct 11 |
Scientific Change 1 |
Kuhn, "The Nature of Scientific Revolutions," in
C & C, and some additional material from Structure (probably
chapters 10 and 13) |
| Mon, Oct 16 | review for midterm | no new reading |
| Wed, Oct 18 |
Midterm Examination |
|
| Mon, Oct 23 |
Scientific Change 2: Kuhn Criticized; |
Laudan (C&C 139-69) |
| Wed, Oct 25 |
Science & Values 1: science and sexism |
Okruhlik (C&C 192-208), Ginzberg (handout) |
| Mon, Oct 30 |
Science & Values 2: feminist philosophy of science |
Sandra Harding and Donna Haraway on objectivity (handouts) |
| Wed, Nov 1 |
Social Studies of Science 1: Sokal Hoax |
All reading for this session is on line. There is a vast
array of related material on
Sokal's web site.
There is so much material there it's hard to know what to especially
recommend. You could look at the hoax paper, but I wouldn't recommend doing
more than skimming it (after all, it's designed to be silly nonsense). Then
I'd recommend Sokal's
Afterward
and his overlapping but somewhat more detailed
"What the
Social Text Affair Does and Does Not Prove". On the other side of
the issue, you might want to read
the comments
of Stanley Aronowitz, one of the Social Text editors. Browse
around and see what else looks interesting if you'd like! It is interesting to
compare the Sokal hoax with
the Bogdanoff affair. |
| Mon, Nov 6 |
Social Studies of Science 2: Theoretical |
Latour & Woolgar (handout); Haack (handout) |
| Wed, Nov 8 | Philosophy of Physics: Bell's Theorem |
David Mermin,
"Is
the Moon There When Nobody Looks? Reality and the Quantum Theory," Physics
Today 38 (April, 1985): 38-47. Recommended: letters and a response from Mermin in Physics Today 38 (November, 1985), 9ff. Also very good: Brian Greene, The Fabric of the Cosmos (Random House, 2004), Chapter 4 presenter: me |
| Mon, Nov 13 | Philosophy of Psychology 1: Psychoanalysis |
Probable readings: Wesley Salmon, "Psychoanalytic Theory
and Evidence" and Clark Glymour, "Freud, Kepler, and the Clinical Evidence."
Possible: selection from Adolf Grünbaum,
The Foundations of Psychoanalysis: A Philosophical Critique. presenter: Tyler |
| Wed, Nov 15 |
Philosophy of Psychology 2: Evolutionary Psychology |
selection from Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works; Lewontin, "The Evolution of Cognition: Questions We Will Never Answer"; selection from Fodor, The Mind Doesn't Work That Way |
| Mon, Nov 20 |
Issues about Intelligent Design |
reading TBD |
| Wed, Nov 22 |
paper presentations 1 |
Thomas, Danielle |
| Mon, Nov 27 |
paper presentations 2 |
Tyler, John |
| Wed, Nov 29 | paper presentations 3 |
Jacob |
| Mon, Dec 4 | wrapup; review for final exam; movie day! | |
|
Saturday, Dec 9, 8:30 AM |
Final Examination |
final draft of paper due |
|
Last update: November 27, 2006 |