Syllabus - tommaso piazza

Transcript

Philosophy of Science II
University of Oporto, Department of Philosophy
Tommaso Piazza
This 60–hour course on the Philosophy of Science has been taught by me, with slight modifications,
two times, in the second semester of the academic years 2010/11, and 2011/12. The course consists
of thirty 2-hours sessions (28 lectures, and 2 sessions in which students presents their assignments).
It is a mandatory course for second-year undergraduate students of Philosophy (‘Licenciatura em
Filosofia’ in the Portuguese system).
Course Description
The course addresses the question of how science should be interpreted. At the very beginning, I
explain the classical (empiricist) distinction between primary and secondary qualities. Then, by
resting on the first distinction, I introduce the second key distinction between observables (entities
or properties) and unobservable (entities of properties). Then I start to chart the geography. I begin
by presenting Scientific Realism, and factor this position into three distinct components. At the
semantic level, Scientific Realism portrays scientific activity as an attempt to describe (observable
and unobservable) reality, so it portrays scientific claims (about observables and unobservable) as
truth-evaluable assertions. At the metaphysical level, Scientific Realism is the claim that the
(observable and unobservable) entities that science aims to describe exist independently of the
mind. Finally, at the epistemological level, Scientific Realism is the (optimistic and anti-sceptical)
claim that truth about (observable and unobservable) reality is not beyond our epistemic reach. In
opposition to Scientific Realism, various forms of antirealism are then introduced and discussed:
Empiricism and Instrumentalism, which reject the semantic component of Scientific Realism;
scientific constructivism, which rejects the metaphysical component of Scientific Realism; and
constructive empiricism, which rejects the epistemological component of Scientific Realism. I then
expound and critically discuss the major argument for Scientific realism, namely Putnam’s No
Miracle Argument; and the major argument in favour of Scientific anti-realism, namely the socalled Pessimistic meta-induction. The latter argument is critically discussed in the light of the
notion of novel prediction, and of by paying attention to history of science. Finally it is introduce,
and critically discussed, the Underdetermination argument for scientific anti-realism.
Lectures’ Overview
This course consists of two 2-hour sessions per week for one semester.
Lecture 1
Technology, and science as a guide to the inner functioning of nature
My power-point slides
Lecture 2
The empiricist view: primary vs. secondary qualities
Selected readings from J. Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science (Routledge,
2002) Ch. 5 (Italian Translation, Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza)
Lecture 3
Observable and unobservable entities or properties
Required reading: S. Okasha, Philosophy of Science: a Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2002)
Ch. 4 (Portuguese Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede); selected readings
from J. Ladyman, Understanding Philosphy of Science (Italian Translation: Introduzione
alla filosofia della scienza)
Lecture 4
Interpreting Science: a map of the available positions
Required reading: S. Okasha, Philosophy of Science: a Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2002)
Ch. 4 (Portuguese Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede)
Lecture 5
Scientific Realism: the semantic component
2002) Ch. 5 (Italian Translation, Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza); S. Okasha,
Philosophy of Science: a Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2002) Ch. 4 (Portuguese
Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede).
Lecture 6
Scientific realism: the metaphysical component
Lecture 7
Scientific realism: the epistemological component
Lecture 8
Varieties of Anti-realisms. Rejecting the semantic component: Empiricism (Carnap), and
Instrumentalism (Mach, Craig’s theorem)
S. Okasha, Philosophy of Science: a Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2002) Ch. 4 (Portuguese
Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede); S. Psillos, Scientific Realism: How
Science Tracks Truth (Routledge, 1999) Ch. 1, 2.
Lecture 9
Varieties of Anti-realisms. Rejecting the metaphysical component: scientific constructivism
Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede); selected readings from A. Kukla,
Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Science (Routledge, 2000) (My Portuguese
Translation)
Lecture 10
The Varieties of Anti-realisms. Rejecting the epistemological component: b. van Fraassen’s
Constructive Empiricism
Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede); selected readings from P. Dicken,
Constructive Empiricism: Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (Palgrave McMillan,
2010) (Portuguese Translation, Argumentos acerca do empirismo construtivo,
Criticanarede); J. Ladyman, Understading Philsophy of Science (Routledge, 2002) Ch. 6
(Italian Translation, Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza).
Lecture 11
van Fraassen’s selective sceptcism
Translation, Realismo e Antirealismo, Criticanarede); selected readings from P. Dicken,
Constructive Empiricism: Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (Palgrave McMillan,
2010) (Portuguese Translation, Argumentos acerca do empirismo construtivo,
Criticanarede); J. Ladyman, Understading Philsophy of Science (Routledge, 2002) Ch. 6
(Italian Translation, Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza).
Lecture 12
The immediacy of the senses vs the mediate nature of scientific observation
Selected reading from A. Chalmers, What is This Thing Called Science? (University of
Queensland Press, 1999) (Portuguese Translation, A ciência como conhecimento derivado
dos factos de experiencia, Criticanarede)
Lecture 13
The explicationist defense of Scientific Realism: Smart’s and Grover’s anticipation.
My slides; S. Psillos, Scientific Realism: How Science Tracks Truth (Routledge, 1999) Ch. 4
(Portuguese Translation, Em defesa do realismo científico)
Lecture 14
The explicationist defense of Scientific Realism: the No Miracles argument for scientific realism:
S. Psillos, Scientific Realism: How Science Tracks Truth (Routledge, 1999) Ch. 4.
(Portuguese Translation, Em defesa do realismo científico, Criticanarede)
Lecture 15
Problems with the explicationist defense of Scientific Realism: the rational status of the inference to
the best explanation.
S. Psillos, Scientific Realism: How Science Tracks Truth (Routledge, 1999) Ch. 4.
(Portuguese Translation, Em defesa do realismo científico, Criticanarede)
Lecture 16
Problems with the explicationist defense of Scientific Realism: truth is not the best explanation of
predictive success.
J. Ladyman, Understading Philsophy of Science (Routledge, 2002) Ch. 5 (Italian
Translation, Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza); S. Psillos, Scientific Realism: How
Science Tracks Truth (Routledge, 1999) Ch. 4. (Portuguese Translation, Em defesa do
realismo científico, Criticanarede)
Lecture 17
The pessimistic Meta-Induction. The case of the caloric theory of heat, and ether.
Lecture 18
Realist responses to the pessimistic Meta-Induction: restrain predictive success to novel and risky
predictions. What it means that a prediction is novel?
Lecture 19
Realist responses to the pessimistic Meta-Induction: (progressively more) approximate truth
Lecture 20
Realist responses to the pessimistic Meta-Induction: science isn’t full of false and predictively
successful theories
Selected readings from L. Fahrbach, Pessimistic Meta-Induction and the Exponential
Growth of Knowledge.
Lecture 21
Empirical Confirmation: Hipothetico-Deductivism
My slides
Lecture 22
Strong and weak empirical equivalence
Translation, Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza)
Lecture 23
From weak and strong empirical equivalence to Underdetermination
Lecture 24
Realist responses to the underdetermination argument. Genuine theories are not empirically
equivalent
Lecture 25
Realist responses to the underdetermination argument. Underdetermination does not entail
scepticism: the role of non-empirical virtues
Lecture 26
Realist responses to the underdetermination argument. Empirical equivalence does not entail
Underdetermination: indirect confirmation
Selected readings from Laudan & Leplin, Empirical Equivalence and Underdetermination;
Lecture 27
Which model of indirect confirmation?
Selected readings from Laudan & Leplin, Empirical Equivalence and Underdetermination.
Lecture 28
Contemporary Science and Philosophy
Selected readings from L. Sklar, Philosophy of Physics (OUP, 1992) (Portuguese translation,
Física moderna e filosofia, Criticanarede).
Session 29
Papers’ presentations by students
Session 30
Papers’ presentations by students
Goals of the Course
At the end of this course,
1. Students will have acquired a basic understanding of the Scientific realism/anti-realism
controversy.
2. They will be aware of the standard defense of Scientific Realism as well as of the most
promising attempt to undermine it. Moreover, they will be aware of the most successful
defense of antirealism, and of the realist attempts to undermine it.
3. Students will be able to master the most important notions in philosophy of science, like
primary/secondary qualities, appearance and reality, hipotetico-deductive confirmation,
empirical equivalence, underdetermination. They will be able to apply such concepts to new
examples taken from scientific practice.
4. Students will have become familiar with major authors in philosophy, like Carnap, Mach,
Craig, van Fraassen, Putnam, Smart, Maxwell, Laudan & Leplin.
5. The students will be able to think critically about various topics in the philosophy of
science. The students will be required to write a short paper on a topic of their choice related
to the course’s syllabus, and to present it to the rest of the students in two special sessions at
the end of the course.
Evaluation
25% of total score: paper evaluation (maximum grade: 20 points). 75% of total score:
students will sit a written exam. Students will receive six question; they will have to select
four, and answer them. Each answer will receive a maximum grade of 5 points, so that the
maximum grade of the written exam is 20 points.

Syllabus - tommaso piazza

Transcript

Documenti analoghi

L`industria della traduzione

“Trans-editors”

Italian Original translation Revised translation or comment Risale al

Canzonetta "Deh vieni alla finestra"

Mirror neurons and motor intentionality

Leggi l`articolo (free!)

Curriculum Davide Franco ITA

this PDF file

case study Vodafone italy_en

Book of abstracts - languagingdiversity2014

Coording error

3. seron - theatre - Cognitive Philology

Print this article - Linguistica Antverpiensia