Course Schedule
| 20 January | Thinking about science, philosophy, and the relation between them (Grobstein, McCormack) | For consideration throughout the course:
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| 27 January | Realism, Constructivism, and Constructive Realism (Krausz) | Karl Popper in Popper Selections, pp 101-161
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| 3 February | Realism, Constructivism, and Constructive Realism (Krausz) | Karl Popper in Popper Selections, pp 162-198, 220-225
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| 10 February | Realism, Constructivism, and Constructive Realism (Krausz) | Nelson Goodman, "The Way the World Is", pp 3-10 in Starmaking Hilary Putnam, "Is There Still Anything to Say About Reality and Truth?", pp 11-27 in Starmaking Israel Scheffler, "Epistemology of Objectivity", pp 29-58, in Starmaking Bernard Harrison and Patricia Hanna, "Interpretations and Reality: Two Queries for Krausz" (handout) | |
| 17 February | Realism, Constructivism, and Constructive Realism (Krausz) | Review Session | |
| 24 February | Scientific Revolutions, Physics, and Indeterminacy (McCormack) | Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, "Postscript", pp 174-210 Peter Kosso, Appearance and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics, Ch. 1-2, pp 1-30 (begin reading the whole of Kuhn) | |
| 3 March | Scientific Revolutions, Physics, and Indeterminacy (McCormack) | Peter Kosso, Appearance and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics, Ch. 6-8, pp 110-186 (continue reading the whole of Kuhn) | |
| 10 March | Spring Break | ||
| 17 March | Scientific Revolutions, Physics, and Indeterminacy (McCormack) | Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, particularly Ch. 9-13 | |
| 24 March | The Concept of Evolution in Biology and Beyond (Grobstein) | Daniel Dennet, Darwin's Dangerous Thought, selections (handout) | |
| 31 March | Complexity and Emergence (Grobstein) | Steven Johnson, Emergence, Intro and Ch. 1 (handout) | |
| 7 April | The Bipartite Brain as Indeterminate Explorer (Grobstein) | George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Philosophy in the Flesh, Ch. 6-8 (handout) Paul Grobstein, Variability in Brain Function and Behavior Paul Grobstein, Getting It Less Wrong, the Brain's Way | |
| 14 April | Pragmatism (Grobstein) | William James (see 7 April notes for web links)
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| 21 April | Indeterminacy: Its Meanings and Implications (Krausz, Grobstein, McCormack) | Review Session | |
| 28 April | Summary (Krausz, Grobstein, McCormack) | Final Discussion | |
