PHILOSOPHY OF
SCIENCE
Spring 2007
Dr. Christine A. James
20396
PHIL 3200 A Philosophy of Science MW
This syllabus is available online, and may be updated, at http://teach.valdosta.edu/chjames/PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCEspring2007.htm
Office: 110 Ashley Hall
Office Hours: MTW 10:30am-12:00pm, in between 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, two written examinations,
and two papers. Pop Reading Quizzes may also be given during the
semester.
Required Texts:
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. (required in ENGL 1101 and 1102). 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 = 25%
C = 79 -
70%
2 Papers at 20% each = 40%
D = 69 -
60%
1 Presentation = 20%
F = 59 -
0%
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
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. If you are such a student, but you are not registered with the
Access Office, you should contact them too. Students requesting classroom
accommodations or modifications because of a documented disability must contact
the Access Office for Students with Disabilities located in room 1115 Nevins Hall. The phone numbers are 229-245-2498 (voice) and
229-219-1348 (tty).
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the semester,
1. You will be able to understand the distinctions among the various sub-fields of philosophy and philosophy of science, including epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics as comprising basic branches of the discipline.
2. You will be able to recognize how philosophical inquiry applies to ‘real-world’ circumstances and to individual reflection on the meaning of life, scientific method, discovery and invention.
3. You will become conversant with the history of philosophy. The course emphasizes Western philosophy in particular, including such significant developments as empiricism, materialism, idealism, rationalism, pragmatism, and existentialism. Certain specific Continental approaches to the philosophy of science will also be introduced.
4. You will be able 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. You will be able to demonstrate the ability to discuss, in both oral and written discourse, the philosophical issues explored in the course.
6. You will be familiar with what academic philosophy is, and you will 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.
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:
(Special Thank You to Richard Amesbury and other
faculty members who teach using WebCT Vista, and the eCore staff!)
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
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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1/8 |
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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1/10 |
Discussion of |
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1/15 |
No class, Martin Luther King Jr. Day |
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1/17 |
Discussion of Ayer, Popper, and Kuhn which are readings #1, 2,
and 3. |
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1/22 |
Discussion of modern challenges to the sanctity of science; Lakatos, Laudan, and |
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1/24 |
Discussion
of the problem of induction; Hume and Hempel
readings 7, 8 |
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1/29 |
Discuss Scientific Method further; Popper, Duhem,
Lipton readings 9, 10, 11 |
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1/31 |
Discuss
Deductive, Causal, and Pragmatic Models; Hempel, W.
Salmon readings 12, 13 |
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2/5 |
Special
research night: everyone will be given a specific experiment to research and
report back to the class 2/7 on what you found out. Some of these
experiments will be given to you on slips of paper,
others will come from the second textbook of the class, Parsons’ Coperican 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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2/7 |
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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2/12 |
First Exam Today, for homework read van Fraasen, Salmon and Kitcher |
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2/14 |
Discuss the possibility of a Unity of Science; |
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2/19 |
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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2/21 |
Challenges to the Unity of Science; Darden/Maull,
Dupre, Reisch |
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2/26 |
The problem of observation; Carnap, Hesse,
Hanson
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2/28 |
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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3/5 |
The issue of gender and science; Harding, Soble |
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3/7 |
Science and non-traditional scientists; Sayers, Richards |
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3/12, 3/14 |
No class, Spring Break Week |
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3/19 |
First Paper Due, be ready to discuss papers in
class |
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3/21 |
Further discussion of professional life as a scientist; Maxwell
and van Fraassen |
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3/26 |
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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3/28 |
More realism/antirealism; Fine |
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4/2 |
Student Presentation Days Begin Phenomena, Interviewing, and Discovery; Brown |
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4/4 |
Discuss Feyerabend
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4/9 |
Discuss Dawkins |
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4/11 |
Science and Religion; McMullin,
Atkins |
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All students are encouraged to attend the Council on
Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Bailey Bio Chem
Building Auditorium on the night of April 12 and all day on April 13. |
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4/16 |
Science and Religion; Gardiner, Vandegrift |
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4/18 |
Current debate in Biology/ Sociobiology; Gould, Caplan |
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4/23 |
SECOND PAPER DUE Be ready to discuss your paper in class. Current
debate in Parapsychology; Thouless, Radner/Radner |
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4/25 |
Special presentation
day: group will do its own research into either medical ethics, or science
and art |
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4/30 |
On this date the senior philosophy and religious studies
students will be presenting papers in West Hall 104. |
The last official class day for all Fall Semester classes is
Monday 4/30.
FINAL EXAM:
For a class that normally meets at
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 Fall 2006 Guide document:
http://www.valdosta.edu/eas/sis/guides/RG_Spring_07.pdf
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