PHILOSOPHY OF
SCIENCE
Spring 2010
Dr. Christine A. James
PHIL
3200 A Philosophy of Science MW
3:30pm-4:45pm WH 104
CRN 20430
This syllabus is available online, and may be updated, at http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCESpring2010.htm
Office: 110 Ashley Hall
Office Hours: MW
2:00pm-3:15pm, TR 3:15pm-4:45pm and after classes and by appointment as needed.
Telephone: 259-7609
Mailbox: Philosophy Department Office
Fax: 259-5011
E-mail address: chjames@valdosta.edu
Course content: This
course provides an introduction to the specialization in philosophy called
philosophy of science. Students will gain an understanding of a variety
of perspectives on science: Does the history of science progress in a
predictable, linear, regular way, or not? Is scientific knowledge as
“objective” or “justified” as it claims to be? Our readings come from
various approaches and two separate texts, each with their own perspective on
science as a social and historical phenomenon. This is a reading
intensive course, so it will require you to read, think about, and write about
a considerable amount of material.
Requirements: Class participation and
attendance, a short presentation on an experiment case study, a written
examination, two papers, a long presentation at the end of the semester,
various WebCT Vista assignments and
discussions. Pop Reading Quizzes may also be given during the semester.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Philosophy courses at
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/VSUGeneralEducationOutcomes.shtml
The Learning Outcomes
for PHIL 3200 are:
1. To understand the distinctions among the various approaches to philosophy of science, including positivism, post-modern theory, and the historical nature of science.
2. To recognize how philosophical inquiry applies to ‘real-world’ circumstances and to specific case studies in the history of science.
3. To become conversant with the history of philosophy of science, as well as specific examples of the formation of the community of scholars who study science, and the role of social interaction in how scientists and philosophers of science view their work.
4. To recognize and define different world views, adopting a reasonably viable one and justifying it in a philosophically informed way that emphasizes critical reasoning and argument.
5. To demonstrate the ability to discuss, in both oral and written discourse, the philosophical issues explored in the course.
6. To be familiar with what academic philosophy is, and to understand how it can be applied to daily life as well as specific careers.
Members of the faculty in Philosophy
and Religious Studies have verified that these outcomes are in line with the
outcomes of the course as it is taught at peer institutions in the State System
of Georgia.
These
course-specific learning outcomes contribute to the departmental
1. To encourage an understanding of central issues, topics and
philosophers in the history of philosophy, from the ancient to the modern periods.
2. To develop students’ abilities to think, write, and speak
critically and logically.
3. To enable students to challenge their own ideas and to develop
self-understanding in the context of a diverse range of ideas which inform
contemporary controversies and social conflict.
4. To enable students to engage in independent philosophical
research, and to be responsible for communicating their understanding of the
issues researched and developed, including a working familiarity with current
research methods.
5. To incorporate philosophical positions in oral and written
6. To critically outline and analyze a philosophical question.
Required Text:
Not required but good to have:
Copernican Questions, Keith Parsons, MacGraw Hill Publishing Company, 2005, 9780072850208
Be sure to do the reading
before the class for which it is assigned. Please bring the relevant book(s)
and/or article(s) with you to class, along with a designated notebook and some
pens.
(In addition,
Philosophy and Religious Studies faculty encourage you to use Andrea A.
Lunsford, St. Martin’s Handbook, 5th ed. which was required in ENGL 1101
and 1102 courses. These books are available for purchase at the VSU Bookstore.
The
How grades will be calculated:
A = 100 -
90%
Class participation, attendance = 15%
B = 89 -
80%
1 Exam = 10%
C = 79 -
70%
1 Short Presentation: 15%
D = 69 -
60%
2 Papers at 20% each = 40%
F = 59 -
0%
1 Long Presentation = 20%
Total
= 100%
Please note that I am not obligated to accept late work or to
allow “make up” work after the date an assignment or exam or paper is completed
by the other members of the class.
I also make no promises about extra credit items, although I will
routinely announce events on campus that can result in some extra credit points
for you.
Exams
and Papers: The
exam in our class will be a “short answer” written exam. Usually I
ask six questions, and a complete answer should be no less than four complete
sentences. These exams are “objective” in the sense that the answers can
be directly related to class discussions and the textbook.
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/papers4800.htm
Here are some extra links, if you would like to use outside sources and secondary source material:
http://books.valdosta.edu/gal1.html (click on “Full Text
Journal Title List”) and
http://www.valdosta.edu/library/learn/guides/philosophy.shtml
The direct link for
the database (Academic Search Complete)
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbac (Click on Academic Search Complete to open the first page with the search box.)
Attendance Policy: I do care that you attend
class regularly. As you know, VSU policy is that missing 20% of class
meetings results in an automatic grade of “F”. Faculty can also institute
added attendance policies in their syllabi. Our class will have a 10% rule for
absences. You can miss up to 10% of the class meetings with no grade
penalty. 10% of our 30 class meetings is 3. On absence number 4,
your final grade for the course will be reduced by one whole letter grade; on
absence number 5, your final grade for the course will be reduced by two whole
letter grades; on absence number 6, you will automatically fail the
course. Be considerate of your fellow students – don’t be late, and don’t
leave your cell phones and pagers on. Note that if you are regularly late
to class, or leave class early, I will begin to count each as an absence.
Please note that this policy makes no distinction between excused and unexcused
absences.
Special Needs:
Students requiring classroom
accommodations or modification because of a documented disability should
discuss this need with me at the beginning of the semester. Students requesting classroom accommodations
or modifications because of a documented disability must contact the Access
Office for Students with Disabilities located in Farber Hall. The phone numbers
are 245-2498 (voice) and 219-1348 (tty).
Participate!
Once
you arrive at class, make an effort to get involved in the conversation. Don’t
hesitate to ask questions if you need clarification or would like more
information: if you are confused, it is likely that others are too! The
participation percentage you receive will depend on a variety of factors,
including (but not limited to) the frequency and helpfulness of your
contributions to class discussions and the care you take when peer editing.
Pop Reading Quizzes:
If
I notice that there are many students who are not keeping up with the reading
and/or participating in class, I may periodically administer reading quizzes in
class. These will not be announced in advance. No “make-up” quizzes will be
given, and a missed quiz will result in a grade of zero. These quizzes
are a solid reward for attending class, participating, and keeping up with the
readings.
Online
Discussions:
During
certain weeks of the semester, you also will be expected to participate
regularly in on-line discussions using WebCT Vista.
Use this opportunity to comment on the week’s readings, ask questions, raise
objections, and respond to what others have written or said in class.
To
use
To
log in to Vista and the course “shell,” go to the VSU homepage and click on the
words WebCT Vista in the upper
right-hand corner. Your username and password are the same as for your BlazeNet e-mail account. For instructions on getting
started, go to: http://www.valdosta.edu/vista
and the help pages at http://www.valdosta.edu/vista/guides/start/index.shtml
When
posting in an online bulletin board, like those in the Discussion area of WebCT Vista, you must (1) post at least one original
message of your own, (2) read all the messages posted by others, and (3)
respond substantively to at least one message from another student. Your
postings are due the same day as the readings are listed in the schedule below
(i.e., no later than
Your
first message on a given topic should be about 200 words in length. That is
roughly the length of two medium-sized paragraphs (e.g., this one and the
next). Your second (response) posting can be about half that length, but it
should be substantive (i.e., involving serious content). Try not to
simply repeat what others have said already. Additional postings can be as long
or as short as you desire. Be sure to give the first message an interesting
title in the “Subject” line. This will help alert the rest of us as to what it
will be about.
When
you are ready to respond to someone else, do so by opening their message and
hitting the “Reply” button. This will create a “thread” that others can add on
to. Keep in mind that although it is fine to disagree with what someone else
has said, it is important to do so in a way that is polite and constructive. If
someone says something that makes you angry, pause and take a breath before
firing off a reply! You can preview your message before you send it, but once
you have hit “Post,” your message will no longer be editable.
Academic Honesty:
Members of the
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/AcademicHonestyPoliciesandProcedures.shtml
http://www.valdosta.edu/academic/documents/ReportofAcademicDishonesty.doc
E-Mail:
VSU
policy mandates that all official communication by e-mail take place through
VSU e-mail accounts or through the WebCT Vista Mail
tool. Please check your VSU (@valdosta.edu) e-mail account regularly.
Note:
This syllabus is not a legal contract; the content of this course is subject to
revision by the professor.
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Schedule
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1/11 M |
Introduction to the class. http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/sciencelabs.htm
(Each date in the class after this one assumes that you
will have read that day’s assigned discussion reading before class.) What is Philosophy? Do Philosophy majors get jobs related
to that major? Here are two pages to answer that: |
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1/13 W |
Looking at the Scientific Method: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/SCI_meth.htm
Discussion of |
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1/18 M |
No class, Martin Luther King Jr Day |
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1/20 W |
Discussion of Ayer, Popper, and Kuhn which are readings #1, 2,
and 3. |
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1/25 M |
Discussion of modern challenges to the sanctity of science; Lakatos, Laudan, and |
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1/27 W |
Discussion
of the problem of induction; Hume and Hempel
readings 7, 8 |
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2/1 M |
Discuss Scientific Method further; Popper, Duhem,
Lipton readings 9, 10, 11 |
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2/3 W |
Discuss
Deductive, Causal, and Pragmatic Models; Hempel, W.
Salmon readings 12, 13 |
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2/8 M |
Special
research night: everyone will be given a specific experiment to research and
report back to the class in a short five-minute presentation. Some of
these experiments will be given to you on slips of paper,
others might come from another book that relates to our class, Parsons’ Copernican
Questions. Our
first reading was an example of how a text could describe one case in the
history of science, explaining the models and images used. You can
download it as a .pdf or view the pages as .jpg
images, click on the images to view larger sizes: http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/philscistart.pdf
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/pscistart.htm
Also
start to post in the online WebCT Vista Discussion
board for our class. Topics will be listed in the class, under the
Discussion tool link. |
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2/10 W |
Researched experiments discussed, Review for first exam http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/review1philosophyofscience.htm
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/review2philosophyofscience.htm
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2/15 M |
First Exam Today by WebCT
Vista |
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2/17 W |
Discuss the possibility of a Unity of Science; |
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2/22 M |
Discussion of Oppenheim/Putnam and Fodor readings 17, 18 Consider these examples in the history of technology as you get
ready for the first paper: |
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2/24 W |
Challenges to the Unity of Science; Darden/Maull,
Dupre, Reisch |
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3/1 M |
The problem of observation; Carnap, Hesse,
Hanson
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3/3 W |
Problem solving considering fallible human senses; Kuhn, Laudan, Latour/Woolgar, Cole; good sites to check: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rationality-historicist/
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3/8 M |
Class meets, Discussion of Paper Topics (Be ready to discuss
your ideas briefly) and Assistance as Needed |
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3/10 W |
The issue of gender and science; Harding, Soble |
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3/15-3/17 |
No class, Spring Break Week |
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3/22 M |
First Paper Due, be ready to discuss
papers in class Science and non-traditional scientists; Further discussion of
professional life as a scientist; Sayers, Richards |
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3/24 W |
Realism/Antirealism, religious beliefs, science, and theories of
truth; Maxwell and van Fraassen |
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3/29 M |
Discussion of the realism/antirealism debate; Churchland, Hacking Are you anticipating having
a job interview? Here’s a document that might help!
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/jobsearch.pdf
http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/jobsearch.doc |
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3/31 W |
More realism/antirealism; Fine |
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4/5 M |
Student Presentation Days Begin Phenomena, Interviewing, and Discovery; Brown |
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4/7 W |
Discuss
Feyerabend
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4/12 M |
Discuss Dawkins |
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4/14 W |
Science and Religion; McMullin,
Atkins |
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4/19 M |
Science and Religion; Gardiner, Vandegrift |
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4/21 W |
Current debate in Biology/ Sociobiology; Gould, Caplan |
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4/26 M |
Current
debate in Parapsychology; Thouless, Radner/Radner |
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4/28 W |
Special presentation day: group will do its
own research into either medical ethics, or science and art http://www.jstor.org/stable/1574993?&Search=yes&term=Art&term=science&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DArt%2BAND%2Bscience%26gw%3Djtx%26prq%3DArt%2BAND%2Bethics%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=6&ttl=255427&returnArticleService=showArticle |
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5/3 M |
Special presentation day: group will do its
own research into either medical ethics, or science and art http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/medicalethics01.pdf http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/stemcellethics.pdf Last official class day SECOND PAPER DUE in WebCT Vista. |
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The last official class day for all Fall Semester classes meeting
MW is Monday 5/3.
FINAL EXAM:
If you are not sure about how the final exam times are assigned
for your other courses, use this link, and check the Final Exam Schedule on
page 3 of the Registrar’s Guide document:
http://www.valdosta.edu/it/eas/sis/documents/Spring2010FinalExamSchedule.pdf
Special Pilot Project: Online Course Evaluations
This course is part of a pilot project this
semester, testing a new online Student Opinion of Instruction (SOI) form. Student evaluations are extremely important
in helping faculty members plan and revise their courses. Rather than completing these evaluations
during class time, students will need to access evaluation forms via BANNER at
the end of the semester. You will only
complete evaluations online for the classes that are part of this pilot
project; other classes may still require you to complete a scantron
form in class. Please take the time to
complete this important evaluation (or opt out of providing an evaluation)
during the designated period. If you do
not do so, you will not be able to access the grade for this class.
The Administration has not yet set up the online forms, and Dr.
James will update the class with instructions when they are available.
Tips for doing well in Philosophy classes, adapted from a handout
by Robert Scott
1. Read text with a pencil, underline the important ideas
and key concepts. Write down technical ideas, key terms, key distinctions
between two terms, definitions, diagrams, etc. to help you remember them.
2. Write questions or reactions you have to the text in the
margin of the book. Ask about these questions in class, and keep them in
mind, since they may provide good points to make about that author in papers
you will write for class.
3. Read ahead to see the ultimate objectives of the chapter
and of the individual readings. Keep in mind the overall picture of the
chapters given in the introductory sections to each chapter in the book.
4. Work with the new terminology frequently, and try to
apply it to situations outside of class. I would recommend flash cards to
help you memorize the meanings of new terms quickly.
5. For longer readings, be sure to review the reading as a
whole after you have read it section-by-section. What was the main
question the author wanted to address? What were the answers? What concepts
were used to make the points?
6. When confronted with a difficult reading or question,
break it down into parts, and into individual ideas. This will at least
help to clarify the question, even if it might not give the answer. And
for philosophy, clarifying the question is really half the battle!
7. Ponder an unsolved problem and return to it every so
often to see if it will give. Inspiration may happen at an unexpected
time, and the subconscious mind does work on problems even when we aren't
consciously aware of it.
8. Begin work on all the class tasks early, and spread out
your work over time so as to maximize your chances for comprehending the
readings accurately, memorizing the information, and grappling with the
questions for papers.
9. If you do need to meet with an instructor outside of
class, be sure to have your questions for the instructor planned out ahead of
time, to make the meeting as productive as possible.
10. Always think about the philosophical issues for yourself,
rather than waiting to be told what to think or believe.
11. Study for all exams on a daily basis, for at least a
week before the exam date. You will need to know who said what, from memory.
12. Try to anticipate the questions that will be asked on an
examination beforehand. Questions may come from the readings or from
lectures and class discussions, but in either case, certain terms and concepts
will be emphasized more than others.
13. Listen carefully to different points of view, and
actively respond (when you read, when you are in class, and when you write your
philosophy papers)!
14. Philosophy involves skills, like learning to appreciate
a good debate, learning to imagine the world differently than we assume it to
be, and appreciating the world with a sense of wonder.
Richard
Amesbury’s tips about writing in Philosophy and Religious Studies:
(1)
A really great website for students about how to write academic papers is
maintained by the Dartmouth Writing Program:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/toc.shtml
In
addition to lots of helpful general information, it has special pages on
"Writing the Religion Paper" and "Writing the Philosophy
Paper."
(2)
A great website that explains the importance of critically evaluating web
resources -- always a problem area for students – is maintained by Robert
Harris:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm
(3)
A third thing I'm planning to do this semester is to require students to own a
copy of the
Dr.
Richard Amesbury