Course Schedule
1/18
(MK, PG, EM)
INTRODUCTION
1/25
(MK)
REALISM
Karl
Popper in Popper Selections:
"The
Problem of Induction," ch. 7,
101-117
"The
Problem of Demarcation," ch.
8, 118-130
"Scientific
Method," ch. 9, 133-142
"Falsificationism
versus Conventionalism," ch. 10, 143-151
"The
Empirical Basis," ch. 11, 151-161
"The
Aim of Science," ch. 12, 162--198,
"Realism,"
ch. 17, pp. 220-225
Presentation_____________
2/1
(MK)
Peter
Kosso, Appearance and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics, ch. 1, 2, 8)
Philip
Benesch, "Singularism and Multiplism in the Work of Karl Popper," --
Handout
Michael
McKenna, "A Metaphysics for Krausz," ch. 11 in Ritivoi
Presentation_____________
2/8
(EM, MK)
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Thomas
Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, ch I-IX
Presentation_____________
2/15
(EM, MK)
Thomas
Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, ch X-XIV
Presentation_____________
PAPER #1 Due
Sunday, February 20, 6 p.m.
2/22
(EM)
Peter
Kosso, Appearance and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics, ch. 3, 4, 5.
Christopher
Hill & Leon Lederman, "Symmetry in Physics" -- Handout
Guardian
Weekly, March 11, 1990, "Measuring One's Length" -- Handout
Presentation_____________
3/1
(EM, MK)
Michael
Riordan, "Science Fashions and Scientific Fact" -- Handout
Hilary
Putnam, "Is There Still
Anything to Say About Reality and Truth?" in Starmaking -- Handout
Presentation_____________
3/8
Vacation
3/15
(MK)
MODULI,
FRAMES, AND CONCEPTUAL SCHEMES
Chhanda
Gupta, "Constructive Realism and the Question of Imputation,"
-Handout
Michael
Krausz, "Interpretation and Its Objects: A Synoptic View," ch. 2 in
Ritivoi
Bernard
Harrison and Patrician Hanna,, "Interpretation and Reality: Two Queries
for Krausz,"
ch. 8 in Ritivoi
Presentation_____________
3/22
(MK)
Donald
Davidson, "The Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme" -- Handout
Michael
Krausz, "Relativism and Its Schemes" -- Handout
Presentation_____________
PAPER
#2 Due Sunday, March 27, 6 p.m.
3/29
(PG)
Daniel
Dennett, Darwin's Dangerous Thought,
selections -- Handout
Presentation_____________
4/5
(PG)
Steven
Johnson, Emergence, Introduction
and ch. 1 -- Handout
Presentation_____________
4/12
(PG)
Paul
Grobstein, "Gutting It Less
Wrong the Brain's Way: Science, Pragmatism and Multiplism,"
ch. 13 in Ritivoi
Michael
Krausz, Replies to Grobstein in Ritivoi, 330-31, 341, 350-53.
George
Lakoff, Philosophy in the Flesh,
chps. 6-8 -- Handout
Presentation_____________
4/19
(PG)
Paul
Grobstein, "Revisiting Science in Culture: Science as Story Telling and Story Revising" -- Handout
William
James, "What Pragmatism Means," -- Handout
William
James, "Pragmatism's Concept of Truth" -- Handout
Presentation_____________
4/26
(MK, PG, EM)
CONCLUSION
PAPER #3 Due Sunday, May 1, 6 p.m.
***
Required
Format for Papers and Seminar Presentations
(I)
EXPOSITION (This section should be about half the length of your
presentation or paper.) In clear terms, rehearse the salient points made by the
author, together with his or her supporting arguments.
(II)
CRITIQUE (This section should be about half the length of your
presentation or paper.)
(A)
Counter Arguments. Articulate the strongest arguments you can produce
(yours or anyone else's -- giving due credit, of course) in an attempt to
unseat the author's rehearsed view in (I).
(B)
Defense. Now, assuming the author's position, defend the rehearsed view
in light of attacks on it in section (A).
(C)
Assessment. Reviewing the dialectic between (A) and (B), provide an
overall objective assessment as to the author's rehearsed view in (B). Does it
withstand the criticism(s) of (A)?
