San José State University
Philosophy 160
“Philosophy of Science”
Spring 2004
Prof. Janet D. Stemwedel
Department of Philosophy, FOB 232
jstemwed@email.sjsu.edu
http://www.stemwedel.org
Office Hours: M 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., W 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m., or by appointment.
Course website: http://www.stemwedel.org/phil160_home.html
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Course Description:
This course will explore what science is, what it does, and how it works.
We will examine: the features of its methodology which distinguish science
from pseudo-science; how theoretical considerations and experiments interact
to shape the scientific picture of the world; how scientific theories evolve
and how theories from different scientific disciplines are related; and whether
science does or should purport to give us a literally true picture of the
world. We will consider not only what is peculiar to the culture of
science, but also how this scientific culture fits into the culture of the
larger society.
Course requirements:
Reading responses. For 6 of the reading assignments, you
will be asked to write a short essay (1 typed, double-spaced page, approximately
300 words) engaging with some issue or issues in the reading. (Specific
instructions for the reading response assignments will be distributed in
class.) The goal of these assignments is to help you read in an active,
engaged way, and to encourage you to develop your own view about these issues.
Reading responses are due in class on the dates listed in the program.
No late reading responses will be accepted, but I will drop your lowest
reading response grade before calculating your final grade. Taken together,
the reading responses will count for 20% of your course grade.
Exams. There will be a midterm and a final exam for this
course. The exams are intended to evaluate your grasp of material
from assigned readings, lecture, and class discussions. Each exam
will include shorter objective items (e.g., definitions of key terms) and
longer essays that will require that you reflect critically on the course
material. More details on the format and content of these exams will
be distributed later in the term. The midterm exam will count for
20% of the course grade and the final exam will count for 30% of the course
grade.
Research assignment. There will be an assignment that requires
you to find articles from the scientific literature and write a brief (5
page, approximately 1500 words) analysis of these articles. (Specific
instructions for this research assignment will be distributed in class.)
Late research assignments will be penalized 1/3 of a grade for each calendar
day late (e.g., an A paper which is 1 day late becomes an A-). No research
papers submitted more than 7 calendar days after the final due date will
be accepted. The research assignment (the final write-up plus the preliminary
stages of the assignment) will count for 20% of your course grade.
Class participation. Dialogue and discussion will play
an important role in our project of analyzing and assessing the central
issues of the course raised in reading assignments and lectures. Therefore,
I expect that you will come to class with your books, having done the readings
and thought about the issues they raise before our class meetings,
and ready to participate in general discussion, in-class writing exercises,
and periodic small group exercises. Your class participation will count
for 10% of your course grade.
Grading:
Reading responses: 20%
Midterm exam:
20%
Final exam:
30%
Research assignment: 20%
Class participation:
10%
Total: 100%
Academic Honesty. I expect you to be familiar with university
policies on plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty.
As well, I expect you to understand the difference between proper attribution
of the words and ideas of others and plagiarism. If you do not understand
the difference, please make an appointment with me to discuss proper attribution
as soon as possible. Plagiarism or cheating will result in a failing
grade in this course, and offenders may be subject to further administrative
sanctions.
If you need course adaptations or accommodations
because of a disability, or if you have emergency medical information to
share with me, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building
must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible,
or see me during office hours.
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Required Texts:
Peter Godfrey-Smith, Theory and Reality: an Introduction to the Philosophy
of Science (PGS)
Philosophy 160 Course Reader (CR) — available for purchase at Maple
Press
PROGRAM:
Reading assignments are due on the dates for which they are
listed.
Th-Jan. 29 FIRST CLASS; introductory remarks.
1. The Scientific Method:
To be discussed: What makes science different from other human
activities? What does science do? What does science achieve?
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Tu-Feb. 3 PGS, Ch. 1 “Introduction” (1-18).
Stephen S. Carey, “Science,” from A Beginner’s Guide to the Scientific
Method (1-7) CR
Carl Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, 2.1-2.2 (3-9)
CR
2. Logical Empiricism:
To be discussed: What roles do logic and empiricism
play in science? How did the logical positivists and logical empiricists
understand science?
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Th-Feb. 5 PGS, Ch. 2 “Logic Plus Empiricism” (19-38).
Tu-Feb. 10 Herbert Feigl, “Logical Empiricism”
CR
Recommended: Peter Galison, “Aufbau/Bauhaus: Logical Positivism
and Architectural Modernism” CR
Reading response #1 due.
3. Induction and Confirmation, Theory
and Experiment:
To be discussed: What can an experiment tell us
about the world? How are scientific theories tested? Can I
prove the sun will rise tomorrow?
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Th-Feb. 12 PGS, Ch. 3 “Induction and Confirmation”
(39-56).
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding, §IV CR
Tu-Feb. 17 Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science,
2.3 (10-18) CR
Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, 3.1-3.5 (19-32)
CR
Reading response #2 due.
Th-Feb. 19 Pierre Duhem, “Physical Theory and Experiment”
CR
W.V. Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” CR
4. Popper and Falsification:
To be discussed: What is the distinguishing mark
of scientific activity? How do we distinguish science from pseudo-science?
Does the problem of induction make science impossible?
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Tu-Feb 24 PGS, Ch. 4 “Popper: Conjecture and Refutation”
(57-74).
Th-Feb. 26 Karl Popper, “Science: Conjectures and
Refutations” CR
Popper, “The Problem of Induction” (426-432) CR
Recommended: Carey, “Fallacies in the Name of Science”
(107-126) CR
Reading response #3 due.
5. Kuhn and Scientific Theory Change:
To be discussed: What role does theory play in the
everyday practice of science? How do scientists choose between competing
scientific theories? Are observations objective? Is theory choice
rational?
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Tu-Mar. 2 PGS, Ch. 5 “Kuhn and Normal Science” (75-86).
Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Ch.
II, “The Route to Normal Science” (10-22) CR
Th-Mar. 4 Kuhn, SSR,
Ch. III, “The Nature of Normal Science” (23-34) CR
Kuhn, SSR, Ch. IV, “Normal Science as Puzzle-solving” (35-42)
CR
Recommended: Kuhn, SSR, “Postscript,” §§1-3 (176-191)
CR
Recommended: Margaret Masterman, “The Nature of a Paradigm”
CR
Reading response #4 due.
Tu-Mar. 9 PGS, Ch. 6 “Kuhn and Revolutions” (87-101).
Th-Mar. 11 Kuhn, SSR, Ch. X, “Revolutions as Changes
of World View” (111-135) CR
Tu-Mar. 16 PGS, Ch. 7 “Lakatos, Laudan, Feyerabend,
and Frameworks” (102-121).
Phase 1 of research assignment
due.
Th-Mar. 18 Catch up/review.
Tu-Mar. 23 MIDTERM EXAM
6. What Do Social Factors Have to Do
with Science?
To be discussed: How does the nature of the scientific
community affect the scientific knowledge it produces? Are scientific
facts discovered or created? How can we achieve objective knowledge
of the world?
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Th-Mar. 25 PGS, Ch. 8 “The Challenge from Sociology
of Science” (122-135).
SPRING RECESS (MARCH 29-APRIL 2)
Tu-Apr. 6 Barry Barnes and David Bloor, “Relativism,
Rationalism, and the Sociology of Knowledge” CR
Recommended: B. Latour and S. Woolgar, “The
Construction of a Fact” CR
Th-Apr. 8 PGS, Ch. 9 “Feminism and Science Studies”
(136-148).
The Biology and Gender Study Group, “The Importance of Feminist Critique
for Contemporary Cell Biology” CR
Helen E. Longino “Values and Objectivity” CR
Reading response #5 due.
7. Naturalism:
To be discussed: What connection should philosophical
theories have to scientific theories? What can science tell us about
our philosophical accounts of science? What kind of connection to
the world can science give us?
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Tu-Apr. 13 PGS, Ch. 10 “Naturalistic Philosophy in
Theory and Practice” (149-162).
Th-Apr. 15 RESEARCH/WRITING DAY (Class will not meet.)
Tu-Apr. 20 PGS, Ch. 11 “Naturalism and the Social
Structure of Science” (163-172).
Th-Apr. 22 Philip Kitcher, “The Division of Cognitive
Labor” CR
8. Scientific Realism and Anti-Realism:
To be discussed: Must a good theory be a true theory?
Should a theory make claims about entities we can’t observe? What counts
as observation?
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Tu-Apr. 27 PGS, Ch. 12 “Scientific Realism” (173-189).
Th-Apr. 29 Grover Maxwell, “The Ontological Status
of Theoretical Entities” CR
Tu-May 4 Bas C. Van Fraassen, “Arguments Concerning
Scientific Realism” CR
Reading response #6 due.
Th-May 6 Ian
Hacking, “Do We See Through a Microscope?” CR
Charles Chihara and Carol Chihara, “A Biological Objection to Constructive
Empiricism” CR
9. Explanation:
To be discussed: Does science explain? What
does a good scientific explanation look like?
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Tu-May 11 PGS, Ch. 13 “Explanation” (190-201).
Carey, “Proposing Explanations” (26-44) CR
Research assignment due.
Th-May 13 Carl G. Hempel and Paul Oppenheim, “Studies
in the Logic of Explanation” CR
Nancy Cartwright, “The Truth Doesn’t
Explain Much” CR
Tu-May 18 WRAP-UP/REVIEW
FINAL EXAM:
Friday, May 21, 9:45 am – 12:00 noon for section 1.
Monday, May 24, 12:15 pm – 2:30 pm for section 2.
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