We will read some of the classic texts which created and set the stage for
later developments within the subdiscipline now known as philosophy of
science. The course will be divided into two halves, corresponding to two
fundamentally different views about what makes science distinctively
rational (due to Rudolf Carnap and Karl Popper); in each case we will
also read important works which were taken to undermine the view in
question.
A midterm assignment (your choice of a take-home exam or a 6–10 page paper)
due Tuesday, February 21, and a final assignment (your choice of a take-home
exam or a 6–10 page paper), due Wednesday, March 22.
(Open Court, 2003)
(ISBN: 0812695232). (This book is generally known as “the Aufbau,” following its original
German title, Der logische Aufbau der Welt.)
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
(Univ. of Chicago
Press, 2012) (ISBN: 0226458121).
Karl Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery
(Routledge, 2002) (ISBN:
8130908115).
The above texts should be available at the Literary Guillotine, and they will also
be put on reserve at McHenry. Readings not from texts on the above list, if any,
will be available on eCommons.