Teaching code

4S003313

Teacher

Davide Poggi

Coordinatore

Davide Poggi

Credits

6

Also offered in courses:

• Science philosophy of the course Master's degree in Linguistics

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-FIL/02 - LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Period

Sem. IIB dal Apr 23, 2018 al Jun 9, 2018.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars

Learning outcomes

The purpose of the course is not only to provide students with the conceptual grounds of the philosophy of science (i.e., realism, objectivity, experimental evidence, etc.), but also to make them able to understand the fundamental (and problematical) assumptions of Positivism, the relationship between the twentieth century “linguistic turn” of philosophy and the philosophy of science and, finally, the implications of the sociological methodology when applied to epistemological subjects. Together with conceptual clarity, the course pays special attention to the acquisition of the terminological precision, which is necessary to deal with contemporary epistemological debate.

Program

The course aims to provide an answer (which does not claim to be exhaustive, but rather tries not to be defective) to the following questions: what is the value of science in the contemporary debate? What importance does the history of science have in the development of new epistemological paradigms?
The contents of the course are:
1) Outlines of the history of philosophy of science: from logical positivism to the contemporary debate;
2) The transition from scientific realism to the constructivist approach to science of epistemological sociology;
3) From Verification to Falsification: the role of experience in the elaboration of scientific theories;
4) Kuhn and scientific revolutions: from the concept of linear development of science to "paradigmatic jumps".

Reference texts

The texts required are as follows:
1) David Oldroyd, Storia della filosofia della scienza. Da Platone a Popper e oltre, Il Saggiatore (Net), Milano 2002, capp. VI-IX.
2) Thomas Kuhn, La struttura delle rivoluzioni scientifiche, Einaudi, Torino 2009.
The reference texts are the same for both attending students and those who can not attend lectures.

Further informations, additional texts, and teaching materials will be communicated on the e-learning platform of the University website.

Examination Methods

Didactic Methods

The teaching methods consist of traditional lectures that will be divided into two parts:
1) a general part, which intends to introduce to the contemporary philosophy of science, through the analysis of some important moments of scientific development and the philosophical issues involved in. In this general part, we will follow the order of the arguments of Oldroyd’s History of the Philosophy of Science (original title: The Arch of Knowledge), together with anthological material that will be uploaded (in full compliance with copyright laws) on the e-learning platform of the University website;
2) a monographic part dedicated to Kuhn’s text, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, that will be read and analysed in the light of the historical and epistemological notions acquired in the first part of the course.

By means of power point presentations, on the one hand, both the teaching and the learning will be more clear and immediate and, on the other hand, students will be encouraged to actively participate to lessons.
Each lesson will be recorded in mp3 format and, together with all the material analysed during the course, will be punctually loaded on the e-learning platform of the University with the aim of easing the study for both attending students and those who can not attend lectures.
During the academic year, an individual consultation service is also available at the teacher's study, at the times indicated on the web pages and readily updated.
At the first lesson, students will receive the full calendar of teaching activities, together with the dates and classroom in which the lessons will take place and a synoptic presentation of the subject of the course.
Any suspension of lectures for academic reasons will be readily communicated in the classroom, on the web site, and on the e-learning platform forum.

Examination arrangements

The assessment of the learning outcomes of both the key concepts and the issues which concern both the philosophy of science and Kuhn’s text will be done by means of an oral examination concerning the programme carried out during the course. This examination consists of questions to test the critical and argumentative abilities of the students, the textual exegesis, the conceptual clarity, and the acquisition of an adequate philosophical vocabulary.
The grades are expressed in thirtieths.
The examination is the same for both attending students and non-attending ones.