Menù principale
B005778 - ADVANCED TOPICS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Main information
Teaching Language
Course Content
Suggested readings
Learning Objectives
Prerequisites
Teaching Methods
Further information
Type of Assessment
Course program
Academic Year 2020-21
Course year
First year - Second Semester
Belonging Department
Humanities (DILEF)
Course Type
Single education field course
Scientific Area
M-FIL/02 - LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Credits
12
Teaching Hours
72
Teaching Term
22/02/2021 ⇒ 28/05/2021
Attendance required
Yes
Type of Evaluation
Final Grade
Course Content
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Course program
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Lectureship
Teaching Language
Italian
Course Content
The main issues in current philosophy of space and time and their implications for current debates on scientific realism, objects and objectivity, and struturalist approaches in science. The last part of the course will be devoted to an interdisciplinary seminar on the nature of scientific theories and the current debate on this topic.
Suggested readings (Search our library's catalogue)
B. Dainton, Time and Space (Acumen: Chesham, UK, 2010); S. French, There are no such things as theories, (Oxford UP, 2020); and texts indicated during the course (available on the moodle page of the course).
Learning Objectives
Knowledge: the course aims at introducing the students to some of the main advanced topics in current debates in the philosophy of science.
Competence: students will develop the ability to address the main questions and the principal texts treated in the course. They will sharpen their capacities of analysis and interpretation by comparing different scientific and historical contexts.
Skills: successful students will become familiar with advanced current debates in the philosophical reflection on science, as well as with the technical resources necessary for a deeper understanding of the subjects studied.
Competence: students will develop the ability to address the main questions and the principal texts treated in the course. They will sharpen their capacities of analysis and interpretation by comparing different scientific and historical contexts.
Skills: successful students will become familiar with advanced current debates in the philosophical reflection on science, as well as with the technical resources necessary for a deeper understanding of the subjects studied.
Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminars.
Further information
For last-minute informations (changes of schedule, and so on), see the homepage:
http://www.unifi.it/p-doc-2012-200007-C-3f2a3d313a282c.html
http://www.unifi.it/p-doc-2012-200007-C-3f2a3d313a282c.html
Type of Assessment
Oral examination on the main topics discussed in the course and a paper on an approved topic.
Course program
Main philosophical issues concerning the nature of space and time: 1) (space and time) the absolute vs relative and substantialism vs relationalism debates on the nature of space and time; space-time theories and the nature of motion; space-time symmetries (in particular: Galilean relativity and special relativity) and their philosophical implications; 2) (time) dynamic/static and tensed/tenseless theories of time; the metaphysics of time; time and change; the arrow of time; time travels. The implications of such issue for the current debate on scientfic realism, objects and objectivity, with a focus on structural approaches. The last part is devoted to a seminar series on the nature of scientific theories,with a specific focus on the current debate on the syntactic vs semantic view of theories and the shortcomings of both views.