Popular culture often portrays scientists as purely rational and objective, while philosophers are seen as dreamy and detached from reality. This course rejects those stereotypes. Instead, we aim to deepen our understanding of science and its societal context from a humanistic perspective.

By examining how scientists contemplate reality and how philosophers shape scientific shifts, we explore the essential commonalities between these two historically separated fields.

Core Objectives

The course is designed to equip students with the conceptual tools of a philosopher of science while enhancing their ability to analyze complex arguments. Students learn to:

• Analyze Logical Connections: Reformulate arguments from diverse sources—including scientific articles, biographies, and dialogues—to evaluate their validity.
• Identify the Unknown: Develop the critical reading skill of identifying exactly what one does not know and why.
• Treat Science Philosophically: Apply philosophical rigor to scientific questions and transfer these concepts to individual disciplinary interests.
• Refine the Craft of Writing: Treat writing as a deliberate practice, focusing on creating clear, engaging sentences that respect the reader’s intellect.

Thematic Exploration

The curriculum is organized into five thematic units that trace the evolution of scientific thought and its modern challenges:

1. Origins of Science: From Aristotelian and Ptolemaic universes to the Copernican Revolution and the trial of Galileo.
2. Demarcation & Revolutions: Exploring the problem of induction, Popper’s falsificationism, and Thomas Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolutions.
3. Social Dimensions: Investigating social constructivism, the intersection of science and gender, and the impact of feminist values on biological sciences.
4. Science and Values: Examining the role of ethics in science, including the privatization of knowledge, eugenics, and “Agnotology”—the cultural production of ignorance.
5. Science and the Future: Engaging with contemporary frontiers like CRISPR technology and the ethical risks of runaway AI.

Unit 1: Origins of Science

The transition from ancient worldviews to the Copernican Revolution.

• Core Text: Gorham, G., 2012. Philosophy of Science: A Beginner’s Guide. 

Week 1: Introduction

• Required: Carlo Rovelli, Anaximander and the Birth of Science (Intro); Albert Einstein, “On Education” (1931). 
• Optional: Jay F. Rosenberg, “Philosophical Impulse” (1978). 

Week 2: Aristotelean Science & the Ptolemaic Universe

• Required: Gorham, Ch 1, pp. 1-12; Aristotle, “Change, Nature, Causes”; Ptolemy, “The Earth: Its size, shape and immobility” (Almagest, Book 1). 
• Optional: Aristotle on Scientific Inference; Aristotle, On the Heavens, Book 1; Plato, Phaedo. 

Weeks 3 & 4: The Copernican Revolution & Galileo Galilei

• Required: Gorham, Ch 1, pp. 13-21; Copernicus, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres; Galileo, The Sidereal Messenger (1610) and Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World Systems (1632). 
• Optional: Biographies and analyses by John Heilbron, Maurice Finocchiaro, Dava Sobel, and Thomas Kuhn. 

Week 5: Science and Religion

• Required: Galileo, Letters on Copernicanism; John Paul II, Fides et ratio; John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion: some historical perspectives. 
• Optional: Lindberg and Numbers, eds., God and Nature; Peter Harrison, Territories of Science and Religion. 

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Unit 2: Demarcation, Pseudoscience, and Paradigm Shifts

Defining the boundaries and evolution of scientific knowledge.

• Core Text: Gorham, G., 2012. Philosophy of Science: A Beginner’s Guide. Chapter 2. 

Week 6: Induction and Falsificationism

• Required: Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutations; The New York Times, “The significance of the 1919 test”. 
• Optional: David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding; James Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science (Ch 2 & 3); Karl Popper, Unended Quest. 

Weeks 7 & 8: Paradigms and Scientific Revolutions

• Required: Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 
• Optional: Thomas Kuhn, The Road since Structure. 

Week 9: Pseudoscience

• Required: Massimo Pigliucci, Nonsense on Stilts (Ch 4); Imre Lakatos, “Science and Pseudoscience”. 
• Optional: Pigliucci and Boudry, eds., Philosophy of Pseudoscience; Michael Gordin, On the Fringe. 

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Unit 3: Social Dimensions of Science

The impact of society, constructivism, and gender.

• Core Text: Gorham, G., 2012. Philosophy of Science: A Beginner’s Guide. Chapter 5. 

Week 10: Social Constructivism and Relativism

• Required: Ian Hacking, The Social Construction of What? (Ch 4); Feldman Barrett, “Emotions are Constructed”. 
• Optional: Schaffer and Shapin, Leviathan and the Air Pump; Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization. 

Week 11: Science and Gender

• Required: Kathleen Okruhlik, “Gender and the Biological Sciences”; Ruse, “Biological Sciences and Feminist Values”; Sandra Harding, “Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology”. 
• Optional: Londa Schiebinger, Has Feminism Changed Science?; Kate Zernike, The Exceptions; Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women. 

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Unit 4: Science and Values

Ethics, economics, and the production of ignorance.

Week 12: Science and Values

• Required: Mary Hesse, Values and Social Sciences; Readings on Eugenics; Shannon Vallor, Technomoral Values. 

Week 13: Science and Economics

• Required: Philip Mirowski, Science-Mart (Ch 1); Lionel Robbins, An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. 
• Optional: Mirowski and Nik Khah, The History of Information in Modern Economics. 

Week 14: Agnotology

• Required: Proctor & Schiebinger, Agnotology (Ch 1); Oreskes & Conway, “How Climate Science Became a Victim of the Cold War”. 
• Optional: Michael Blastland, The Hidden Half (Ch 4 & 5); Oreskes & Conway, Merchants of Doubt. 

Week 15: Science and the Future

• Required: AlphaGO (Documentary); Goodyear, “Dangerous Designs”; Zimmer, “CRISPR 10 years on”; Hutson, “How Can We Stop Runaway AI?”.