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PhilScienceTechSyllabus2023 2024

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32 views5 pages

PhilScienceTechSyllabus2023 2024

Uploaded by

Francisca
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ghAcademic Year 2023/2024 – First Semester


Politecnico di Milano

Instructor: Prof. Giovanni Valente ( [email protected] )


Office: Department of Mathematics, Building 14 “Nave” Campus Leonardo of the
Politecnico di Milano, Office 416, Fourth Floor. Phone: +39-02-2399-4591

Teaching Assistant: Dr. Rawad El Skaf ( [email protected] )


Office: Department of Mathematics, Building 14 “Nave” Campus Leonardo of the
Politecnico di Milano, Second Floor. Phone: +39-02-2399-4526

Time and Classroom: Thursday 10:15-13:15 Room C (Building 11) ; Thursday 16:15-18:15
Room 2.1.3 (Building 2)

DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE


The course aims at providing the students with a critical understanding of the philosophical
foundations of science and technology. But what is the relation between philosophy and
science? On the one hand, the discoveries by scientists are often inspired by philosophical
ideas. On the other hand, scientific achievements and technological advancements pose deep
conceptual questions to philosophers. The connection between these disciplines is thus so tied
that it becomes difficult to even draw a border between them. This course explores such a
connection through the study of important episodes in the history of science. Outstanding
issues of philosophy of science and technology, such as scientific progress, the method of
science and the confirmation of theories and laws, will be addressed. Moreover, a particular
focus will be devoted to philosophical questions concerning the nature of space as they
emerge in the foundations of science, especially in relation to the famous debate between
Leibniz and Newton. Finally, in the context of philosophy of technology, we will explore
epistemic tools that are used to draw scientifically-informed inferences, such as computer
simulations and thought experiments.

Textbooks
- Alan Chalmers, What is This Thing Called Science?, Hackett Pub Co Inc, 2013,
Paperback
- Nick Huggett, Space from Zeno to Einstein: Classic Readings With a Contemporary
Commentary, Bradford Books, 1999, Paperback
-
Articles available on line
- Andersen H., Scientific Method, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-method/
- Niinilnuoto I., Scientific Progress, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-progress/
- Hansson S.O., Science and Pseudo-Science, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/
- Hoefer C., Huggett N., and Read J., Absolute and Relational Space and Motion, Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Absolute and Relational Space and Motion: Classical
Theories (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Brown, James Robert and Yiftach Fehige, Thought Experiments, Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thought-experiment/
- Frigg, Roman and James Nguyen, Scientific Representation, Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy : https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-representation/
- Frigg, Roman and Stephan Hartmann, Models in Science, Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/models-science
- Frigg, Roman, and Nguyen, James,2017, “Models and Representation”, in Lorenzo
Magnani and Tommaso Bertolotti (eds.): Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science,
Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London and New York: Springer, 49-102. (A user-friendly
version of the paper with author-date citations can be found here.)
- Winsberg, Eric, Computer Simulations in Science, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy;
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2019/entries/simulations-science
- Winsberg, Eric, 2009, “A Tale of Two Methods”, Synthese, 169(3): 575–92
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-008-9437-0
- Arcangeli, M. 2018, “The Hidden Links between Real, Thought and Numerical
Experiments”, Croatian Journal of Philosophy, XVIII/52, pp. 3-22
https://www.pdcnet.org/pdc/bvdb.nsf/purchase?
openform&fp=croatjphil&id=croatjphil_2018_0018_0001_0003_0022

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Philosophy of Science
14\09\2023: Experience, Logic and Induction (Chalmers, chapters 1-4).
21\09\2023: Inductivism and Falsificationism (Chalmers, chapters 5-7).
28\09\2023: Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend (Chalmers, chapters 8-11). Scientific Method
and Demarcation Science\Pseudoscience (Stanford Encyclopedia Articles) Review Paper 1
12\10\2023: Bayesianism New Experimentalism, Scientific Laws and Realism\Anti-realism
(Chalmers, chapters 12-15). Review Class Presentations
Philosophy of Space
19\10\2023: Space in the Ancient and Modern Times (Huggett, chapters 2-5). Leibniz and
Newton (Huggett, chapter 6-9)
26\10\2023: Absolute vs Relational Space (Huggett, chapters 6-9; Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy). Kant, Poincarè and Spacetime (Huggett, chapters 10-12). Review Paper 2

Class presentations
09\11\2023 Group 1: ONLINE
16\11\2023 Group 2: ONLINE
23\11\2023 Group 3: ONLINE

Philosophy of Technology
30\11\2023: (Dr. Rawad El Skaf) Thought Experiments
14\12\2023: (Dr. Rawad El Skaf) Representation and Models
21\12\2023: (Dr. Rawad El Skaf) Computer Simulations. Review Paper 3

REQUIREMENTS
The final grade is based on a class presentation and a written exam, which comprises a
number of essays depending on the number of credits one is registered for, as follows:

3 Credits
 Paper 1 (3000 words)
 Class Presentation (or alternative paper)

4 Credits
 Paper 1 (3000 words)
 Paper 2 (2000 words)
 Class Presentation (or alternative paper)

5-6 Credits
 Paper 1 (3000 words)
 Paper 2 (2000 words)
 Paper 3 (2000 words)
 Class Presentation (or alternative paper)

All the essays must be sent in a single email to both instructors at the addresses
[email protected] and [email protected] on the official date of the exam
(established by the university), for which one is signed up. The preferred format for the files
is .pdf. Note: there is no in-class exam.
The topics of the assigned essays are described here below. (Note: if you quote some external
source, that must be clearly stated; otherwise it may constitute a case of plagiarism).

PAPER 1
The philosophical problem of demarcation between science and pseudo-science is closely
related to the issues of scientific method and scientific progress. Explain in detail why that is
the case. Then, describe the different solutions to the demarcation problem proposed by
Inductivism, Falsificationism, Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend, emphasizing merits and
limitations of each of them. Finally, present your favorite view on the matter and illustrate it
by applying to concrete cases (e.g. climate science, vaccination, creationism, etc.)

PAPER 2
The problem of space is an outstanding topic in philosophy of science. Explain what are the
metaphysical, epistemological and physical questions that arise in its context. Discuss in
detail the debate between substantivalism and relationism, by outlining the position of
Newton, Leibniz and Mach: in particular, review the various arguments in favor and against
the two conceptions of space. Finally, present your own view on the matter.

PAPER 3
Explain why scientific practice goes (and sometimes needs to go) beyond the traditional
trichotomy of theories, observations, and experiments in such a way to employ different
tools: from tools of thought like thought experiments all the way to technological tools like
computer simulations. Choose one of these tools and present the main philosophical issues at
stake. Describe two philosophical approaches that promise to tackle such issues. Defend your
favorite one and criticize the other, by referring to concrete case studies taken from any
scientific field.

CLASS PRESENTATION (or alternative paper: 2000 words)


Choose a case-study, possibly related to your own research, and discuss it within the context
of either one of these topics: Bayesianism, New Experimentalism, Scientific Laws, and
Realism\Anti-realism.

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