The John J. Reilly Center

Program in History and Philosophy of Science

Courses Spring 1999

HPS 500

HPS Colloquium 4:15-5:30 T (Howard)

1 Cr. Hr.

Group Discussion by the HPS faculty and students of a prominent recent work in the field of HPS and research presentations by visiting scholars. Required course for HPS students in first and second years of the HPS Program.

The Social Uses of Science, 1800 to the Present 1:30-4:15 M (Hamlin)

3 Cr. Hr. Crosslist: Hist 573; Permission Required

By "social uses" of science, I do not mean the history of the application of science to technology or medicine. Instead (in very broad terms), the concern of the course is with the development of an institution of great authority: We justify all manner of positions we take and things we propose to do (or even do) by invoking the label "scientific" as if it were sufficient warrant. This appeal to science (over and above other sources of warrant, ranging from aesthetic convention to tradition to scripture to nature) would appear to be a product of the rationalism of the Enlightenment, though one certainly finds traces of it earlier. It would appear to characterize authority for most of the last two centuries, and seems likely to persist in some form. While science appears to occupy a roughly similar normative role in all western societies, the roots of its rise to authority vary greatly. Accordingly, this is a comparative course. I shall focus mainly on the US., Britain, France, and Germany. It should be clear that this course will not focus primarily on the content of science, nor shall we be mainly concerned with the legitimacy of these appeals to authority (though these issues may ultimately be unavoidable); it is mainly an exploration of the social and cultural history of a prominent institution.

Philosophy of Biology 9:30-10:45 TH (Gayon)

3 Cr. Hr. Graduate Majors Only

An examination of major problems in the philosophy of biology and recent work on those problems. The course begins with a comparison between traditional "biological philosophy and "philosophy of biology" proper, an expression that emerged in the 1970s in the context of Anglo-American philosophy of science. A significant array of issues and key figures in this modern sub-discipline will be presented critically, more particularly: (1)The problem of the autonomy (vs provincialism) of biological sciences and the related debates over physical-chemical reductionism and teleology. (2) Problems raised by specific biological theories and concepts: systematics, cell theory, evolutionary theory, genetics. These theories will be examined from three points of view: their claim to unify the biological sciences, their structure and explanatory power, and the specific problems of definition raised by certain theoretical concepts (concepts of the cell, of selection and fitness, of species, of categories and taxa, of the gene). (3) Two problems in the epistemology of medicine will be analyzed: definitions of disease and notion of a 'cause' of a disease. (4) Finally two ethical problems involving major epistemological issues will be discussed: eugenics and race.

Requirements: students will be required to write short abstracts of papers distributed throughout the course. They will write a mid-term essay examination and a 15-20 page term paper on a topic to be chosen in consultation with the instructor.

Readings will include: D. Hull, The Philosophy of Biological Science; A. Rosenberg, The Structure of Biological Science, Cambridge University Press;. E. Sober(ed.), Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology, Cambridge, MIT Press; G. Canguilhem, A Vital Rationalist: Selected Writings from Georges Canguilhem.

Feminist Philosophy of Science 4:30-5:45 MW (Kourany)

3 Cr. Hr. Crosslist Phil 585; Permission Required

In recent years feminists have offered rather sharp critiques of modern Western science: for example, that it has been controlled by men right from the start, with women excluded from its most important activities; that it has sought from the start to dominate nature with a method characterized by such so-called masculine traits as disinterestedness and emotional detachment, and (at least in recent times) aggressiveness and competitiveness; and that it has tended to leave women largely invisible in its knowledge and research, or portrayed in negative terms, and has thereby justified such things as inferior educational and athletic opportunities for women, inferior medical treatment for women, and inferior positions for women in the workplace, the family, and every institution of human life. At the same time, feminists have drawn our attention to a number of recent cases of scientific research that they have considered exemplary--not subject to the above kinds of critique, and indeed, pointing us toward a much better (more useful, more objective, truer, etc.) science, and they have put forward various theories to explain and justify such an evaluation. In this course we shall explore this terrain of so-called "feminist philosophy of science"--these critiques and cases of exemplary scientific research and justificatory theories--paying particular attention to articulating and assessing the theories. We shall also explore the relation between this feminist philosophy of science and so-called "mainstream philosophy of science." Such exploration will lead us to an interesting vantage point from which to reflect on what philosophy of science (neither "feminist" nor "mainstream") can and should be like.

The style of the course will be discussions of the course material as well as students' research, and the requirements will include a term paper of around 30 pages as well as class participation. Readings will cover the work of such figures as Harding, Longino, Keller, Schiebinger, Haraway, Rosser, Fausto-Sterling, Oakley, Hubbard, Hardy, Traweek, and Easlea, and will be available in course packet form from the LaFortune Copy Shop.

History of the Philosophy of Science up to 1750 11:00-12:15 TH (McMullin)

3 Cr. Hr. Crosslist: Phil 587

We shall first trace the appearance in the ancient Greek world of the notion of a privileged form of knowledge, episteme, paying special attention to Plato and Aristotle. After a brief glance at some late medieval developments, we shall focus on the profound shift that occurred in the notion of a science of nature in the course of the seventeenth century. Authors to be studied: Bacon and Descartes, Boyle and Locke, Galileo and Newton.

Primary texts and a collection of recent article-length studies. Research paper and final examination.

Thesis Direction (Howard)

Thesis direction for terminating Master's students.

Nonresident Thesis Direction (Howard)

Thesis direction for terminating Master's students.

Directed Readings

Directed Readings carried out under individual HPS faculty supervision.

Seminar: Anglo-American Intellectual History: Locke to Darwin 2:00-4:30 W (Turner)

3 Cr. Hrs. Crosslist: Hist 669

The seminar provides an opportunity for graduate students to write publishable monographic articles based on individual research in primary sources. Members of the seminar may write on any plausible topic with which the professor in charge can assist. (This precludes, for instance, a paper that makes heavy use of sources in Latin.) If a student does not arrive at the first meeting with a well-defined topic in hand, one will be assigned.

Early meetings of the seminar will focus on general problems of historical research and writing, later ones on critical discussion of the individual projects.

No undergraduate may enroll without written consent of the instructor, which will be given only in extraordinary circumstances.

Research and Dissertation (Howard)

Nonresident Dissertation Research (Howard)