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PHL 452 Science & Inquiry: Spring 2008
William H. Krieger, Ph.D.
Class Hrs: Thurs 4-6:45pm White 201
Office Hrs: Tues 9:30-11:30am Chafee 172
Phone: 401-874-2812 Email: krieger@uri.edu
Goals:
When people think of the philosophy of science, they generally focus on sciences like physics, biology, or cognitive science. In the early 20th century, these sciences (for reasons we can discuss) became the templates for scientific explanation, and their problems became THE problems in the philosophy of science. Without diminishing their importance, I would (and do) argue that the philosophy of science should search for its answers by asking questions of a variety of sciences.
So, what are some interesting issues in the philosophy of science? To answer this question, we will need to know a bit about how science works. After this brief introduction to science, we will focus on a number of topics and case studies (from a number of sciences), drawing out issues that will hopefully be as personally and philosophically interesting for you as they are for me.
As we are an advanced (and relatively small) group, I plan to spend a minimal amount of time laying out the material and going over the science. My goal is to spend the majority of our time pulling out and discussing theoretical. So, I will expect that you have read the material and I will hope that you have questions, comments, and ideas to bring to the table.
Schedule (Tentative Topics):
Introduction: Science and the Philosophy of Science?
Views of Science
Hempel. Philosophy of Natural Science
Kuhn. Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Underdeterminism and Skepticism
Risk: Lauden, Shrader-Frechette, Second Hand Smoking: TBA
Case Study: issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis
Determinism
Genetics and Psychology: De Melo-Martin, Doris, Nelkin
Reduction/Unification?
Ovchinnikov, Davidson, Wylie
Theoretical entities?
Maxwell, van Fraasen, Churchland
Gender and Science
The Discovery of DNA: TBA, Anthropology: Lloyd, Wylie, Levitt
Case Study: Who Owns the Past? (Archaeology)
Winner, Rothstein, Bird
Case Study: Genetically Engineered Organisms
Sagoff, Dobson, Lacey, Debates
Case Study: Animal Experimentation
Blakemore, Malik, Debates
Texts/Course Material:
Hempel: Philosophy of Natural Science
Kuhn: Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Packet on E-Reserve in the library
Grading Scale:
Students will be graded on the following criteria/scale:
10% E-Journal Discussion (via vox.com (send me your username and I’ll add you to our private group)
As this is a seminar (as opposed to a lecture), I will not hand out daily written assignments. This means that you will need engage the texts/materials that are assigned. To help you with this, I will have each of you post to our group’s blog site each week. For credit, each week you will need to post a minimum of once on the material (with questions, comments, etc) and at least once in response to a comment raised by one of your classmates. I am looking for quality here, and although I will know what you wrote, your comments will be made anonymous to the class.
25% First Paper
This short assignment (I will hand out an assignment sheet when we get close to that material) will be on the problem of Scientific Practice. I am happy to read drafts, which will be due 1 week before the paper due date.
25% Presentation
Lead a class discussion, based on one of the articles or issues scheduled for the class or on another article/issue of your choosing (pending my approval).
40% Final Paper
Research and write a paper on a philosophical problem for scientists (or a scientific problem for philosophers), using your presentation as a jumping off point (if you so desire).
Blah Blah Blah:
As all of you know by now, philosophy courses are not the sorts of things you will want to miss. So, I expect that you will come to class. Religious holidays/real excuses are the only exceptions to this rule, and I expect to be informed of these as soon as they are known.
Late work will only be accepted if there are severe extenuating circumstances, and I expect that you will inform me in advance and arrange to hand in late work A.S.A.P.
Plagiarism: don't do it. Copying somebody's work (either in full or by paraphrase) without citing the author of that material is against both school and federal laws. If you use a source, cite it. If you have questions about this, ask me.
DO THE READING. Scientific writing is hard to understand, philosophical texts are hard to understand, and philosophy of science - yup - you guessed it, can be very dense. So, please set aside enough time to read the material and grapple with the issues it presents. If you have questions as you read, good. That is what we are here for.
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