Phi 272—Philosophy of Science
Fall 2013—Glen Helman

Instructor: Glen Helman, Assoc. Prof. of Philosophy and Dept. Chair

E-mail: helmang@wabash.edu

Office: Center 214, (765) 361-6334

My posted hours currently are 2:30-3:30 on M and 3-4 on Th (but this can change). I usually arrive on campus between 9 and 10 and leave between 5 and 6, and you stand a good chance of finding me in my office whenever I am not teaching. My other classes meet at 10 MWF and 1:10 TTh. (While I am in my office most noon hours, the noon hour is also a common time for meetings and other events, as is the afternoon after 4.)

Home: 314 W. Wabash Ave., (765) 362-0428

This is your best bet evenings and weekends, but try my office too.

Cell phone: (765) 366-0791

Texts

Texts in the bookstore:

Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1996.

Handouts:

Aristotle, Francis Bacon, and René Descartes, selections on the methods of science

Bertrand Russell, “On Induction,” ch. 6 of The Problems of Philosophy

Karl Popper, some quotations on falsification and corroboration from Unended Quest (Open Court, 1976), from “The Bucket and the Searchlight,” an appendix to Objective Knoweldge (Oxford, 1972), and from The Logic of Scientific Discovery (Basic Books, 1959)—on Canvas

Albert Einstein, “Geometry and Experience,” from Sidelights on Relativity (Methuen, 1922)—on Canvas

On the web:

Karl Popper, “Back to the Pre-Socratics,” §§3-7, 11-12, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, n.s. vol. 59 (1958-59), pp. 3-8, 18-24—on JSTOR at 4544602

Carl G. Hempel and Paul Oppenheim, “Studies in the Logic of Explanation,” Philosophy of Science, vol. 15 (1948), pp. 135-175—on JSTOR at 185169

Carl G. Hempel, “The Function of General Laws in History,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 39 (1942), pp. 35-48—on JSTOR at 2017635

Wesley Salmon, “Explaining Things Probabilistically,” The Monist, vol. 84 (2001), pp. 208-217—on JSTOR at 27903724

Philip Kitcher, “Two Approaches to Explanation,” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 82 (1985), pp. 632-639—on JSTOR at 2026419

Philip Kitcher, “Explanatory Unification,” §2 (sels.), §§3-4 Philosophy of Science, vol. 48 (1981), pp. 510, 512-515—on JSTOR at 186834

Bas van Fraassen, “The Pragmatics of Explanation,” American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 14 (1977), pp. 143-150—on JSTOR at 20009661

Herbert Feigl, “The ‘Orthodox’ View of Theories,” in Michael Radner & Stephen Winokur (eds.), Theories & Methods of Physics and Psychology, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 4 (Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1970), pp. 3-16—on MSPS site (in vol. 4 with end of bibliography attached to next article) at http://www.mcps.umn.edu

Mary Hesse, “Models in Physics,” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, vol. 4 (1953), pp. 198-214—on JSTOR at 685897

Gilbert Harman, “The Inference to the Best Explanation,” The Philosophical Review, vol. 74 (1965), pp. 88-95—on JSTOR at 2183532

Ronald Giere, “Testing Theoretical Hypotheses,” in John Earman (ed.), Testing Scientific Theories, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 10 (Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1983), pp. 269-296—on MSPS site at http://www.mcps.umn.edu

Wesley Salmon, “Bayes’s Theorem and History of Science,” in Roger Stuewer (ed.), Historical & Philosophical Perspectives of Science, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 5 (Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1970), pp. 68-86—on MSPS site at http://www.mcps.umn.edu

John Norton, “The Hole Argument,” §§1-3, Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, 1988, vol. 2, pp. 56-59—on JSTOR at 192871

Henry Margenau, “Reality in Quantum Mechanics,” Philosophy of Science, vol. 16 (1949), pp. 287-302—on JSTOR at 185069

N. David Mermin, “Is the moon there when nobody looks?” Physics Today, vol. 38 (1985), pp. 38-47—on EBSCO at AN 5460139

Paul Teller, “Relational Holism and Quantum Mechanics,” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, vol. 37 (1986), pp. 71-81—on JSTOR at 686998

Alex Rosenberg, “Reductionism in a Historical Science,” Philosophy of Science, vol. 68 (2001), pp. 135-163—on JSTOR at 3081061

Philip Kitcher, “Species,” Philosophy of Science, vol. 51 (1984), pp. 308-333—on JSTOR at 187426

Daniel Dennett, “In Darwin's Wake, Where Am I?” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, vol. 75 (2001), pp. 13-30—on JSTOR at 3218710

Grading

Assignments and grading:

(1)Five papers:

paper 1 (c. 1-2 pp., due 9/13): an exposition of an argument;

paper 2 (c. 2-3 pp., due 10/4): an exposition of an argument and presentation of a possible objection;

paper 3 (c. 3-4 pp. due 10/25): presentation of arguments on each side of an issue with an evaluation of their relative strength;

paper 4 (c. 6-8 pp., due 11/22): development of a position on an issue, including a consideration of objections to it;

paper 5 (c. 3-4 pp., due 12/18): a paper analogous in form to paper 3, written on material from the last part of the course.

All will be on topics arising from the texts you read; I will suggest the form each paper should take, but you will have substantial freedom of choice in the topic.

(2)Regular, prepared, and active participation in class (which could include completion of brief writing assignments in preparation for, or during, class).

Your final grade will be based on these in the following way: 10%, 10%, 15%, 30%, and 15%, respectively, for the papers, and 20% for class participation.

Attendance and due dates:

As part of my evaluation of your participation, I will be keeping a record of your attendance. You will be automatically excused if you notify me in advance that you will miss a class (e-mail or voice-mail messages are fine). After the fact, I will expect you to have a good reason. Due dates for the papers are subject to negotiation. I set a default due date for the class, but I am willing to set individual due dates (within reason) for those who find that inconvenient. My policy on missed deadlines is similar to that on missed classes: I’ll re-negotiate the deadline (again within reason) if I hear in advance; but after the fact, I’ll expect an excuse. Unexcused missing of deadlines will have an effect on your participation grade.

Calendar

Calendar. The assignments below are approximate and tentative. Sometimes a reading-guide handout will specify the details of an assignment, and it may include passages that are part of your assignment.

8/30   introduction
9/2 induction & hypothesis Aristotle, Bacon, and Descartes on the methods of science—handout
9/4   Russell, “On Induction”—handout
9/6   Popper, sels. from “Back to the Pre-Socratics,” §§3-7, 11-12 (pp. 3-8, 18-24)—on JSTOR at 4544602—and quotations from Popper on falsification and corroboration—on Canvas
9/9 explanation Hempel, “Studies in the Logic of Explanation” §§1-3, 6 (pp. 135-140, 152-157)—on JSTOR at 185169
9/11   Hempel, “The Function of General Laws in History” (pp. 35-48)—on JSTOR at 2017635
9/13 Salmon, “Explaining Things Probabilistically” (pp. 208-217)—on JSTOR at 27903724
9/16 Kitcher, “Two Approaches to Explanation” (pp. 632-639)—on JSTOR at 2026419—and “Explanatory Unification” (pp. 510, 512-515)—on JSTOR at 186834
9/18   van Fraassen, “The Pragmatics of Explanation” §§I-II (pp. 143-147)—on JSTOR at 20009661
9/20   ——, §§III-IV (pp. 147-150)—on JSTOR at 20009661
9/23 theories Feigl, “The ‘Orthodox’ View of Theories” (MSPS, vol. 4, pp. 3-16)—on MSPS site (in vol. 4 with end of bibliography attached to next article) at http://www.mcps.umn.edu
9/25   Hesse, “Models in Physics” (pp. 198-214)—on JSTOR at 685897
9/27 confirmation Harman, “The Inference to the Best Explanation” (pp. 88-95)—on JSTOR at 2183532
9/30 Giere, “Testing Theoretical Hypotheses” §§1-5 (MSPS, vol. 10, pp. 269-284)—on MSPS site (in vol. 10) at http://www.mcps.umn.edu
10/2 Giere, “Testing Theoretical Hypotheses” §§6-10 (MSPS, vol. 10, pp. 284-296)—on MSPS site (in vol. 10) at http://www.mcps.umn.edu
10/4   Salmon, “Bayes’s Theorem and History of Science” (MSPS, vol. 5, pp. 68-86)—on MSPS site (in vol. 5) at http://www.mcps.umn.edu
10/7 normal science Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, §§I-II (1-22)
10/9 ——, §III and p.s. §1 (23-34, 174-181 [173-180]*)

* When pages in the 2012 edition differ from the 2nd and 3rd editions, they are given in brackets.

10/11   ——, §IV and p.s. §2 (35-42, 181-187 [181-186])
10/14   ——, §V and p.s. §3 (43-51, 187-191 [186-190])
10/16 novelty ——, §VI (52-65)
midsemester break
10/21 ——, §VII (66-76)
10/23 ——, §VIII (77-91)
10/25 revolution ——, §IX begun (92-101)
10/28 ——, §IX concl. (101-110)
10/30   ——, §X begun (111-129)
11/1 ——, §X concl. and p.s. §4 (129-135 [129-134], 191-198 [191-197])
11/4   ——, §XI and §XII begun (136-147 [135-146])—reading guide
11/6   ——, §XII concl. and p.s. §5 (148-159 [147-158], 198-204 [197-203])—reading guide
11/8 progress ——, §XIII and p.s. §§6-7 (160-173 [159-172], 205-210 [203-208])—reading guide
11/11 philosophy of physics Einstein, “Geometry and Experience” —on Canvas
11/13 Norton, “The Hole Argument,” §§1-3 (56-59)—on JSTOR at 192871
11/15   Margenau, “Reality in Quantum Mechanics,” §§1-2 (pp. 287-295)—on JSTOR at 185069
11/18 ——, §§3-5 (pp. 295-302)—on JSTOR at 185069
11/20   Mermin, “Is the moon there when nobody looks?” (pp. 38-47)—on EBSCO at AN 5460139
11/22 Teller, “Relational Holism and Quantum Mechanics” (pp. 287-295)—on JSTOR at 686998
  Thanksgiving break
12/2 philosophy of biology Rosenberg, “Reductionism in a Historical Science,” §§1-2 (135-142)—on JSTOR at 3081061
12/4 ——, §§3-4 (142-149)—on JSTOR at 3081061
12/6   ——, §§5-6 (150-163)—on JSTOR at 3081061
12/9   Kitcher, “Species” §§1-3 (pp. 308-319)—on JSTOR at 187426
12/11   ——, §§4-5 (pp. 320-331)—on JSTOR at 187426
12/13   Dennett, “In Darwin's Wake, Where Am I?” (13-30)—on JSTOR at 3218710
12/18 paper 5 (Wed. afternoon)