LFILO2602: Schedule

February 2: Introduction to Philosophy of Science

Readings:

• Carnap, “On the Character of Philosophic Problems” (1934)
• Popper, “Science: Conjectures and Refutations” (1963)

February 9: Opposing the Received View

Readings:

• Lakatos, “Introduction” from The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes (1978) (or, listen to Lakatos himself deliver this introduction as a lecture)
• Hanson, “Observation” (1958)

February 16: Kuhn 1

Readings: Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), chapters 1–5 (version française, introduction–ch. 4)

February 23: Kuhn 2

Readings: Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), chapters 6–9 (version française, ch. 5–8)

March 2: Kuhn 3

Readings: Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), chapters 10–13 and Postscript (version française, ch. 9–12 et postface)

March 9: Scientific Explanation

Readings:

• Hempel and Oppenheim, “Studies in the Logic of Explanation” (excerpt, 1948)
• van Fraassen, “The Pragmatics of Explanation” (1977)

March 16: Scientific Realism

Readings:

• Maxwell, “The Ontological Status of Theoretical Entities” (1962)
• van Fraassen, “Arguments Concerning Scientific Realism” (1980)
• Laudan, “A Confutation of Convergent Realism” (1981)

March 23: Values in Science

Readings:

• Douglas, “Origins of the Value-Free Ideal for Science” (2009)
• Douglas, “Values in Science” (2016; optional for more contemporary background)
• Teller’s letter to Szilard about their moral responsibility for the atomic bomb (1945; optional but recommended and chilling)

March 30: Feminist Philosophy of Science

Readings: Read one or both of:

• Richardson, “When Gender Criticism Becomes Standard Practice: The Case of Sex Determination Genetics” (2008; for a particuar application)
• Okruhlik, “Gender and the Biological Sciences” (1994; for a broader overview)

April 6: Scientific Objectivity

Readings: Daston and Galison, “The Image of Objectivity” (1992)

April 13: Philosophy of Science in Practice

Readings: Chang, “Epistemic Activities and Systems of Practice” (2014)

May 4: Student Presentations I

May 11: Student Presentations II

If the number of students in the course permits it, we may condense student presentations to a single day and have another day of material on May 4.