| Date |
Reading |
Location |
Comments |
| Tu 2/3 |
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 2/5 |
Ch. 2 “Logic Plus Empiricism”
(19-38). |
PGS |
|
| Tu 2/10 |
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 2/12 |
Ch. 3 “Induction and Confirmation”
(39-56). |
PGS |
|
| David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding, §IV |
CR |
||
| Tu 2/17 |
Hempel, Philosophy of Natural
Science, 2.3 (10-18) |
CR |
|
| Hempel, Philosophy of Natural
Science, 3.1-3.5 (19-32) |
CR |
||
| Th 2/19 |
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! |
| 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). |
|
| Tu 2/24 |
Ch. 4 “Popper: Conjecture and
Refutation” (57-74). |
PGS |
|
| Th 2/26 |
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 |
||
| Tu 3/2 |
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. |
|
| Th 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 |
||
| Tu 3/9 |
Ch. 6 “Kuhn and Revolutions”
(87-101). |
PGS |
|
| Th 3/11 |
Kuhn, SSR, Ch. X, “Revolutions
as Changes of World View” (111-135) |
CR |
|
| Tu 3/16 |
Ch. 7 “Lakatos, Laudan, Feyerabend,
and Frameworks” (102-121). |
PGS |
|
| Th 3/25 |
Ch. 8 “The Challenge from Sociology
of Science” (122-135). |
PGS |
|
| Tu 4/6 |
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 4/8 |
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 4/13 |
Ch. 10 “Naturalistic Philosophy
in Theory and Practice” (149-162). |
PGS |
|
| Tu 4/20 |
Ch. 11 “Naturalism and the Social
Structure of Science” (163-172). |
PGS |
|
| Th 4/22 |
Philip Kitcher, “The Division
of Cognitive Labor” |
CR |
|
| Tu 4/27 |
Ch. 12 “Scientific Realism” (173-189). |
PGS |
|
| Th 4/29 |
Grover Maxwell, “The Ontological
Status of Theoretical Entities” |
CR |
|
| Tu 5/4 |
Bas C. Van Fraassen, “Arguments
Concerning Scientific Realism” |
CR |
|
| Th 5/6 |
Ian Hacking, “Do We See Through
a Microscope?” |
CR |
|
| Charles Chihara and Carol
Chihara, “A Biological Objection to Constructive Empiricism” |
CR |
||
| Tu 5/11 |
Ch. 13 “Explanation” (190-201). |
PGS |
|
| Carey, “Proposing Explanations”
(26-44) |
CR |
||
| Th 5/13 |
Carl G. Hempel and Paul Oppenheim,
“Studies in the Logic of Explanation” |
CR |
|
| Nancy Cartwright, “The Truth
Doesn’t Explain Much” |
CR |