Preparing for Wed 1 Feb

On Wed 1 Feb, we will devote the entire class to a discussion of Quine's holism. To prepare for Wednesday's class, please do the following.

Read

• Section V of "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" -- posted on PolyLearn
• "Holism, Part I" -- Chpt. 9 -- This is Section VI of Quine's "Two Dogmas of Empiricism"
• "Holism, Part II" -- Chpt. 10

Think About

1. How is Quine's rejection of verificationism related to his holism?
2. How is Quine's holism related to Duhem's holism?
3. What, according to Quine, are the principles that govern how we make changes to our "web of beliefs"?
4. Is Quine correct that any proposition is revisable in light of a recalcitrant experience? Why or why not?

NOTE: If you are writing a response paper for this Wednesday, you must write on Chpt. 10.

Preparing for Mon 30 Jan

On Mon 30 Jan, we will begin discussing the problem of underdetermination. To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following.

Read

• Duhem Chpt. 7 - Read this carefully
• Quine, Chpt. 9 - Start reading this

Think About

• What is the main argument Duhem presents to support the view that statements in physics are never tested in isolation?
• Why does Duhem believe that there is no such thing as a crucial experiment in physics?
• Does Duhem's view have any consequences for scientific realism? Why or why not?

NOTE: If you are writing a response paper for this Wednesday, you must write on Chpt. 10.

Preparing for Wed 25 Jan

On Wed 25 Jan, we will revisit the article by Maxwell (Chpt. 4) and go on to discuss van Fraassen's article (Chpt. 5). As the title of his article suggests, van Fraassen is interested in defending the distinction between observables and unobservables even though he agrees that the distinction between observation terms and theoretical terms is not well-founded (remember: language vs. world!).

Read

• Maxwell, Chpt 4.
• van Fraassen, Chpt. 5

Think About

• What are the main arguments Maxwell presents and what philosophical position is he trying to defend?
• Why does van Fraassen believe that the distinction between theoretical terms and observation terms is not well-founded?
• According to van Fraassen, what guidelines can we use for distinguishing observables from unobservables? Do his guidelines work? What consequences do they have?
• Why does van Fraassen think the distinction between observables vs. unobservables is related to the issue of scientific realism?

Preparing for Monday 23 Jan

On Mon 23 Jan, we will focus primarily on Putnam's article (Chpt. 3). Although the article is only four pages long, it has several important and somewhat subtle philosophical arguments. The most important thing to remember while you read the Putnam article is the distinction between language and wold that we have discussed.

If we have time, we will begin our discussion of the article by Maxwell (Chpt. 4)

Read

• Putnam, Chpt. 3 - study this one very carefully.
• Maxwell, Chpt. 4

Think about

• How does Putnam reach the conclusion that there are no observation terms and why should this matter to logical positivists?
• According to Putnam, why is it significant that lots of terms that refer to "unobservables" are not theoretical terms and how does he reach this conclusion?
• According to Putnam, why is it significant that there are theoretical terms that refer to observables?

Notes about Logical Positivism now available

 Since some of you have asked, I have now posted the PowerPoint slides from which I taught both the background to Logical Positivism and Logical Positivism itself. You can find these slides (as PDF files) in the PolyLearn site for your section.

Response Paper for Wed 18 Jan

 If your first response paper is due this Wed 18 Jan, your essay should be on Kitcher's "The Unification Model of Scientific Explanation" (Chpt. 17)

Preparing for Tues 17 Jan

 On Tues 17 Jan, we will begin our discussion of scientific explanation. As you will see from the readings, the logical positivists tried tried to use their account of scientific theories to give an account of scientific explanation.

Read

• Hempel & Oppenheimer - Chpt. 16
• Okasha - Chpt. 3

Think About

• What are the main features that Hempel & Oppenheimer think all scientific explanations share in common?
• Do all scientific explanations satisfy the criteria set out by Hempel & Oppenheim?
• Are there arguments that satisfy the criteria set out by Hempel & Oppenheim but which are not scientific explanations?

 

Reponse Paper Guidelines and Due Dates

Response papers will always be due on a Wednesday. The precise due date for your paper depends on your surname. Please visit the PolyLearn site and download the Response Paper Guidelines, which includes the due dates for both sections. Please make sure you know which section you are in!

Preparing for Wed 11 Jan

We covered a lot of philosophical ground last class. Do look over your notes and come prepared to ask me questions if you are unclear about anything.

During Wednesday's class, I'll begin by talking about how the development of special relativity influenced the logical positivists. We will then discuss the details of how the logical positivists answer the question "What is a scientific theory?"

To prepare for Wednesday's class, please do the following.

Read

• Chpt. 1 - Rosenberg
• Chpt. 2 - Suppe

Think About

• What are the main philosophical elements of logical positivism?

Preparing for Mon 9 Jan

On Monday 9 January we will discuss some of the relevant philosophical background to logical positivism. We will talk about a variety of important figures in the history of philosophy and science including Descartes, Newton, Hume, and Kant. However, the assigned (required) reading is about Hume's philosophy. The rest you'll learn in class. To prepare for Monday's class, please do the following.

Read

• Okasha, Chpt. 1 and 2 (recommended)
• Salmon, W., "An Encounter with David Hume" -- Posted on the PolyLearn web site for your section.

Think About

• How does Hume's analysis of causation shed light on the certainty of scientific knowledge?
• What is Hume's problem of induction, and why is it a problem?

Welcome

This blog will contain entries describing what you should do to prepare for each class. Reading assignments and reading questions will be posted here.

All documents for this course, including the course syllabus and class schedule, will be posted on the corresponding PolyLearn website.