HS 443: History and Philosophy of Science

Instructor Name: Vikram Singh Sirola
Course Name: History and Philosophy of Science (HS 433)
Course Type: Theory 
Credits: 6
Pre-requisites: None

Course Content: 

I. Nature of Science a) Distinction between science, non-science, and pseudoscience b) epistemological and metaphysical basis II. Scientific Progress a) Relationship between the natural and social sciences b) Karl Popper (critical rationalism) c) Thomas Kuhn (alternative notion of normal science) d) Imre Lakatos (methodology of research programmes) e) Paul Feyerabend (methodological libertarianism) III. Scientific Realism a) Truth Realism b) Entity Realism c) Non-Realism and Anti-realism debate d) Instrumentalism e) Structure Realism IV. Evolutionary Epistemology a) Karl Popper’s evolutionary epistemology V. Law of Nature and Scientific explanation a) Causality and indeterminism in physical theory b) Laws and universal truths c) Kind of facts

Books:

1: John Losee, A historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford University Press, 2001 2: Nancy Cartwright, How the Laws of Physics Lie, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983

Lectures:

Prof mainly teaches on slides with some explanations on the blackboard. 80 % attendance compulsory. The teaching is good. But there are several concepts of Physics that is not well understood.

Assignments:

The prof suggests several articles during the course related to the topics in the course content. They should be read judiciously. Exams do have questions from them. Difficulty level is mild, not very high.

Exams and Grading:

Midsem 30 Endsem 40 Group presentation/Individual Essay: 20 Class participation and regularity: 10

Online Materials:

The prof uploads any content needed.

Pro-Tips: 

Go to classes and make notes. They come in handy during the written exams (which are fully subjective).

Personal Comments: 

The course is mostly about getting you introduced to the various ways different philosophers have thought about the scientific method and its importance. It doesn't cover philosophies of any modern theories (like Quantum Mechanics) as such.

Respondent: Manu