Science and Human Understanding

Philosophy 5 UC Berkeley Spring, 2007 Location TBD, 11-12:30 Professor: Paul Skokowski 244 Moses Hall Office Hours: Thu 3:15 - 4:45 Phone: (510) 643-6840 paulsko{AT}turing{D0T}stanford{D0T}edu GSI: Katrina Winzeler, kwinzeler{AT}berkeley{D0T}edu Sections: TBD Texts: Ariew (ed.), Leibniz and Clarke: Correspondence Hacking, Representing and Intervening Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution Y! Shopping--- Amazon Y! Shopping--- Amazon Y! Shopping--- Amazon Y! Shopping--- Amazon Course Reader: Course Reader Available at Copy Central on Bancroft. Schedule: This is a preliminary schedule and will change Introduction Week 1, Tue, Jan 16: Course Introduction, Schedule, and Grading Introduction to Space and Time: The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence Week 1, Thu, Jan 18: Correspondence, Letters 1 & 2, p. 4-14. * * * Click here for first reading * * * Week 2, Tue, Jan 23: Correspondence, Letters 3 & 4, p. 14-35. * * * Click here for second reading * * * Week 2, Thu, Jan 25: Correspondence, Letter 5, p. 36-77. Logical Positivism and Confirmationism Week 3, Tue, Jan 30: Reader, M. Schlick, Positivism and Realism Week 3, Thu, Feb 1: Reader, C. Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, Ch. 1-3 Week 4, Tue, Feb 6: Reader, C. Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science, Ch. 4 Reader, R. Carnap, The Confirmation of Laws and Theories Week 4, Thu, Feb 8: * * * First Three Page Paper Topic Available Today * * * Logical Positivism, and Review Falsificationism Week 5, Tue, Feb 13: Reader, K. Popper, Science: Conjectures and Refutations Week 5, Thu, Feb 15: Reader, Lakatos, Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Scientific Revolutions Week 6, Tue, Feb 20: * * * First Three Page Paper Due Today, 11:00 AM * * * Structure of Scientific Revolutions, T. Kuhn, p. 1-51 Week 6, Thu, Feb 22: Structure of Scientific Revolutions, T. Kuhn, p. 52-91 Week 7, Tue, Feb 27: Structure of Scientific Revolutions, T. Kuhn, p. 92-135 Week 7, Thu, March 1: Structure of Scientific Revolutions, T. Kuhn, p. 136-173 So You Say You Want A Revolution? Well, You Know... Week 8, Tue, March 6: Reader, Popper, Normal Science and its Dangers Reader, Masterman, The Nature of a Paradigm, 59-66 Week 8, Thu, March 8: Reader, Masterman, The Nature of a Paradigm, 76-88 Reader, P. Feyerabend, Consolation for the Specialist Week 9, Tue, March 13: * * * * MID-TERM EXAM IN CLASS * * * * Realism, Anti-Realism, and Rationality Week 9, Thu, March 15: Reader, B. van Fraassen, Arguments Concerning Scientific Realism Week 10, Tue, March 20: Reader, A. Fine, And Not Anti-Realism Either Week 10, Thu, March 22: Representing and Intervening, I. Hacking, p. 1-31 Week 11: March 26 – March 30: * * * * SPRING RECESS – NO CLASS THIS WEEK * * * * Week 12, Tue, April 3: Representing and Intervening, I. Hacking, p. 31-64 Week 12, Thu, April 5: * * * Second Three Page Paper Topic Available Today * * * Representing and Intervening, I. Hacking, p. 65-91 Reader, T. Kuhn, Reflections on My Critics Reality Testing: The Copernican Revolution Week 13, Tue, April 10: The Copernican Revolution, T. Kuhn, p. 1-77 Week 13, Thu, April 12: * * * Second Three Page Paper Due Today, 11:00 AM * * * The Copernican Revolution, T. Kuhn, p. 78-133 Week 14, Tue, April 17: * * * * NO CLASS * * * * Week 14, Thu, April 19: The Copernican Revolution, T. Kuhn, p. 134-265 Special Relativity Week 15, Tue, April 24: Reader, B. Hoffman, Relativity and its Roots, p. 43-80 Week 16, Thu, April 26: Reader, Holton, Einstein, Michelson, and the 'Crucial' Experiment Week 16: Tue, May 1: Student Presentations Week 17: Thu, May 3: Student Presentations Week 17: Tue, May 8: Student Presentations and Review for Final Exam Philosophy Research | Talks | Teaching | Publications | Home paulsko{AT}turing{D0T}stanford{D0T}edu --- Tel: (650) 723-1275 --- Cordura Hall 127, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4101