Philosophy of Science (PHIL 304)

Philosophy of Science (PHIL 304)

Lecturer: Sandy Berkovski

Fall 2016

Contact details
sandy.berkovski+comment@gmail.com, Bilkent ext. 1048
Office hours
H147, Wed 13:30-14:30, Fri 13:30-14:30, and by appointment

Readings

Readings for this course consist of articles. There is only one source: the electronic collection provided by the lecturer.

[Ber16]
Y. S. Berkovski. Philosophy of science: Course reader. Link to the .pdf file forwarded at the beginning of the semester, 2016.

Preliminary term schedule

Abbreviations: `Author[n]' designates item #n in [Ber16]. Starred items demand especially close scrutiny, either because of the significance of their arguments, or because of their sophistication (but remember that every item on the list is a required reading).
Week 1
Introduction; The origins of modern empiricism: Helmholtz[1], *Mach[2], Mach[3]
Week 2
Conventionalism in geometry: Poincaré[4], Einstein[5], *Reichenbach[6] (§§3-8)
Week 3-4
Theory, observation, induction: Carnap[9], Hanson[10], *Goodman[11]
Week 4-5
Natural kinds: Quine[12], Dupré[13]
Week 6
Explanation: Carnap[18], Hempel[19], Friedman[20], *Mayr[21]; Midterm exam
Week 7
Mechanism and explanation: Craver[34], *Wright and Bechtel[35]
Week 8
Scientific revolutions: Kuhn[36]
Week 9
Darwinian revolution: Kuhn[25], *Kitcher[26]
Week 10
Creationism, evolutionary biology: Paley[37], Dawkins[38], *Sober[27]
Week 11
Creationism, origins of life examined: *Sober[27], White[27]
Week 12
Laws and reduction in biology: Beatty[28], *Kitcher[29]
Week 13
Biology, culture, ethics: Wilson[30], Ruse and Wilson[31], Sober[32]
Week 14
Scientific realism: Kitcher[33]
Week 15
Final exam

Requirements

Midterm and final exams
There will be two 24 hour take-home exams.
Quizzes
Six quizzes (fifteen minutes each) will be administered in the course of the semester. Their dates will not be announced in advance. They will typically require commenting on a short fragment of the text.
Participation
Students are encouraged to take part in the discussion at the class. This includes asking meaningful questions, however trivial they might seem. Additionally, students may submit short written comments (200-300 words) on the text we currently study before the relevant class.
Etiquette
Please note that latecomers will not be allowed into class, including those that are late from the break. This rule will be strictly enforced throughout the semester.

Grading

The grades will have the following weight:
Midterm exam                     36%
Final exam                     36%
Participation                     10%
Quizzes                     18%
While your overall grade at the end of the term will be according to the A-F scale, I shall grade your work during the term by using Bilkent's standard percentage scale. These two scales relate to each other as follows:
Numerical scale (%)                     Letter scale
95 - 100                     A
90 - 94                     A-
86 - 89                     B+
82 - 85                     B
78 - 81                     B-
74 - 77                     C+
70 - 73                     C
67 - 69                     C-
63 - 66                     D+
59 - 62                     D
00 - 58                     F
Please note that the students will be allowed to sit the final exam only if they get a combined grade of at least 59/100 for their midterm exam, quizzes, and homework assignments (that is, when their average grade for these requirements is at least D).


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On 8 Oct 2016, 14:29.