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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