Philosophy
of Science
reading schedule
| Date |
Reading |
Location |
Comments |
| Tu 1/28 | Ch. 1 “Introduction” (1-18) | PGS | |
| 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 |
||
| Th
1/30 |
Ch.
2 “Logic Plus Empiricism” (19-38) |
PGS |
|
| Tu
2/4 |
Herbert
Feigl, “Logical Empiricism” |
CR |
You
should skim (or even skip) pp. 377-381 and pp. 393-end. Concentrate on Feigl's criticisms of philosophy and the features he seems to admire in science. |
| Recommended:
Peter Galison, “Aufbau/Bauhaus: Logical Positivism and Architectural
Modernism” |
CR |
||
| Th
2/6 |
Ch.
3 “Induction and Confirmation” (39-56) |
PGS |
|
|
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §IV |
CR |
||
| Tu
2/11 |
Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, 2.3 (10-18) | CR | |
| Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, 3.1-3.5 (19-32) | CR | ||
| Th
2/13 |
Pierre Duhem, “Physical Theory and Experiment” |
CR |
The
big question to focus on is what Duhem says about the realtions between
theory (or hypotheses) and experiments (or observations). Read sections 1-3 and 10; skim or skip the other sections. Don't fret about the details of the historical examples! |
| Tu 2/18 |
W.V. Quine, “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” |
CR |
Read
section 6 carefully. What is Quine claiming about the empirical
content of an individual statement (like a hypothesis)? Just skim (or skip) sections 1-5. Also, reread the discussion of "Two Dogmas" in PGS (pp. 31-33). |
| Th
2/20 |
Ch.
4 “Popper: Conjecture and Refutation” (57-74). |
PGS |
|
| Tu
2/25 |
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 |
||
| Th
2/27 |
Ch.
5 “Kuhn and Normal Science” (75-86). |
PGS |
|
|
Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Ch.
II, “The Route to Normal Science” (10-22) |
CR |
Click
here for some information that may help you
get more out of the Kuhn readings. |
|
| Tu
3/4 |
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 |
||
| Th
3/6 |
Ch.
6 “Kuhn and Revolutions” (87-101). |
PGS |
|
| Kuhn,
SSR, Ch. X, “Revolutions as Changes of World View” (111-135) |
CR |
||
| Tu
3/11 |
Ch.
7 “Lakatos, Laudan, Feyerabend, and Frameworks” (102-121). |
PGS |
|
| Th
3/20 |
Ch.
8 “The Challenge from Sociology of Science” (122-135). |
PGS |
|
| Recommended:
Barry Barnes and David
Bloor, “Relativism, Rationalism, and the Sociology of Knowledge” |
CR |
||
| Tu
4/1 |
Ch.
9 “Feminism and Science Studies” (136-148). |
PGS |
|
| The Biology and Gender Study Group, “The Importance of Feminist Critique for Contemporary Cell Biology” | CR | ||
| Helen
E. Longino “Values and Objectivity” |
CR |
||
| Tu
4/8 |
Ch. 10 “Naturalistic Philosophy in Theory and Practice” (149-162). | PGS |
|
| Th
4/10 |
Ch.
11 “Naturalism and the Social Structure of Science” (163-172).. |
PGS |
|
| Tu
4/15 |
Ch. 12 “Scientific
Realism” (173-189). |
PGS |
|
| Tu
4/22 |
Grover Maxwell,
“The Ontological Status of Theoretical Entities” |
CR |
|
| Th
4/24 |
Bas C. Van
Fraassen, “Arguments Concerning Scientific Realism” |
CR |
|
| Tu
4/29 |
Ian Hacking,
“Do We See Through a Microscope?” |
CR |
|
| Charles Chihara
and Carol Chihara, “A Biological Objection to Constructive Empiricism” |
CR |
||
| Tu
5/6 |
Ch. 13 “Explanation”
(190-201). |
PGS |
|
| Carey, “Proposing
Explanations” (26-44) |
CR |
||
| Th
5/8 |
Carl G. Hempel
and Paul Oppenheim, “Studies in the Logic of Explanation” |
CR |
|
| Nancy Cartwright,
“The Truth Doesn’t Explain Much” |
CR |
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