Course Information Overview
Philosophy of Science
Course Description:
This course satisfies the “Philosophy and Religion” (C-3) section of the General Education Program. All courses in this section are designed to promote systematic reflection on questions concerning the structure and meaning of existence and knowledge. Achieving this goal involves developing an appreciation for and assessments of alternative world views and rival conceptual systems that have played central roles in human culture—influencing art, science, government, literature, and other important aspects of civilization.
Philosophy of Science is the discipline that aims to understand the goals, methodology and structure of scientific knowledge. In the course of the semester we will explore questions regarding the unification of scientific knowledge, the problem of the boundary between science and pseudo-science, scientific methodology, scientific progress, the relation between theory and observation, the problem of relativism and questions pertaining to science and religion such as creationism or intelligent design vs. evolution.
Course Requirements:
1. Term Paper @ 20% tentatively due date – Nov 11.
2. Two Exams @ 50%. Exam I -- tentative date -- Oct 23; Exam II -- tentative date -- Dec 9. Exams include multiple choice questions, short answers and essays. They will cover material from readings, class lectures and discussion. Study questions will be given to students in advance of the two exams.
3. Class participation @ 10%. Students are required to participate in class discussions and evaluate critically the material presented. Since the success of the class depends in part on the willingness of students to become actively involved in the subject, a significant portion of the final grade is determined by participation. Students who raise questions during lectures and participate in class discussions and group dynamics will be rewarded with a participation grade proportional to their contribution to the class.
4. Weekly quizzes @ 20%. Quizzes cover readings and lectures. Students are allowed the drop one quiz.
Grade scale: A – 90%-100%; B—80%-89%; C—70%-79%; D—60%-69%; F—0%-59%. Plus/Minus grading will be used.
Tentative Schedule of Topics
1. Introduction to the Philosophy of Science
Reading:
Theodore Schick, “General Introduction,” pp. 1-2
Robert Klee, Chapter 1
2. Science and Non-Science: Defining the Boundary
Science and Pseudo-science
Standard Empiricism
Aim-Oriented Empiricism
Scientific Progress
Readings:
A. J. Ayer, “The Elimination of Metaphysics”
Karl R. Popper, “Science: Conjectures and Refutations”
Thomas S. Kuhn, “Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research”
Imre Lakatos, “Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programs”
Nicholas Maxwell, “Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos and Aim-Oriented Empiricism,”
http:philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00000251/
Nicholas Maxwell, “Can Humanity Learn to become Civilized? The Crisis of Science
without Civilization,” http:philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00001709
Larry Laudan, “Science at the Bar—Causes for Concern”
Micheal Ruse, “Pro Judice”
Robert Klee, Chapters 2 and 3.
3. Induction and Confirmation: The Nature of Scientific Inference
Causation, Inductive Knowledge and Confirmation
Readings:
David Hume, “The Problem of Induction”
Carl Hempel, “The Role of Induction in Scientific Inquiry”
Karl Popper, “The Problem of Induction”
Pierre Duhem, “Physical Theory and Experiment”
Peter Lipton, “Contrastive Inference”
Robert Klee, Chapter 4.
4. The Unity of Science: Are All Sciences Reducible to Physics?
Metaphysics and Ontology
Grand Unification Theories and the Theory of Everything
The Problem of Reductionism
Readings:
Paul Oppenheim and Hilary Putnam, “Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis”
Jerry Fodor, “Special Sciences”
John Dupré, “The Disunity of Science”
Robert Klee, Chapter 5
5. Theory and Observation: Is Seeing Believing?
Readings:
Rudolf Carnap, “The Methodological Character of Theoretical Concepts”
Mary Hesse, “Is There an Independent Observation Language?”
N. R. Hanson, “Observation”
Thomas Kuhn, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”
Larry Laudan, “A Problem-Solving Approach to Scientific Progress,”
Robert H. Thouless, “Parapsychology during the Last Quarter of a Century”
Daisie Radner and Michael Radner, “Parapsychology: Pre-Paradigm Science”
Robert Klee, Chapter 7
6. Science and Objectivity: The Science Wars
Rationality and Objectivity
Readings:
Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar, “The Social Construction of Scientific Facts”
Stephen Cole, “Voodoo Sociology: Recent Developments in the Sociology of Science”
Robert Klee, Chapters 8 and 9
7. Realism and Antirealism: Does Science Reveal Reality?
Grover Maxwell, “The Ontological Status of Theoretical Entities”
Bas C. van Fraassen, “Constructive Empiricism”
Paul M. Churchland, “The Anti-Realist Epistemology of van Fraassen’s The Scientific
Image”
Ian Hacking, “Experimentation and Scientific Realism”
Arthur Fine, “Natural Ontological Attitude”
James Robert Brown, “Explaining the Success of Science”
Robert Klee, Chapter 10
8. Science and Religion: Reason versus Faith
Readings:
Paul Feyerabend, “Science and Myth”
Richard Dawkins, “Is Science a Religion?”
Alvin Plantinga, “When Faith and Reason Clash: Evolution and the Bible”
Ernan McMullan, “Evolution and Special Creation”
Peter Atkins, “Purposeless People”
Martin Gardner, “Science and the Unknowable”
9. Corruption of Science: Government, Business and Marketing
Readings:
David Healy and Michael Thase, “Is Academic Psychiatry for Sale?”
Richard Horton, “The Dawn of McScience”
Leemon McHenry, “On the Origin of Great Ideas: Science in the Age of Big Pharma”
Jeffrey Lacasse and Jonathan Leo “Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the
Advertisements and the Scientific Literature”
Leemon McHenry, “Ethical Issues in Psychopharmacology”
Leemon McHenry, “Biomedical Research and Corporate Interests: A Question of Academic Freedom"