Handbook 1996 : Faculty of Arts (Volume 3 page 111)
History & Phil'y of Sci. subject : Next:136-202 | Prev:136-103 | Search | Help
136-105 "Science, Philosophy and History" appears differently in several places - choose the one you want:
1. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Arts (v3, p111) : Next:136-202 | Prev:136-103
Credit points: 12.5 1st year
Coordinator: Dr Neil Thomason.
Contact: Up to three hours of lectures, seminars or tutorials a week.
Timetable: Second semester
Objectives:
Students completing this subject will come to a fuller understanding that Science is a remarkably complex and often beautiful result of a complex set of forces: conceptual considerations, empirical evidence, detailed critiques, as well as economic, social and individual factors. Students will better understand such vital philosophical issues as 'can Science prove a theory is true?' and 'what, if anything, is wrong with pseudo-science?' and historical and political issues as 'how closely do real scientists follow the 'scientific method?', 'is it ever reasonable to not believe what scientists say?', and 'what ought the role of science to be in society?'.
Content:
Readings and discussions from the history, sociology and philosophy of science.
Assessment:
One mini-paper per tutorial (totalling no more that 2,000 words) and one major end of semester essay of about 2,000 words.
Prescribed texts:
1. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Arts (v3, p111) : Next:136-202 | Prev:136-103
2. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Science (v4, p196) : Next:136-202 | Prev:136-103
Credit points: 12.5
Coordinator: Dr N Thomason
Contact: One 1 x hour of lecture and two 1 x hour tutorials per week
Timetable: Second semester
Objectives:
The student will come to a fuller understanding that science is a remarkably complex and often beautiful result of a complex set of forces; conceptual considerations, empirical evidence, detailed critiques, as well as economic, social and individual factors. This class deals with such vital philosophical issues as "Can Science prove that a theory is true?" and "What, if anything, is wrong with pseudo-science?" It also deals with historical and political topics: "How closely do real scientists follow 'the scientific method?", "Is it ever reasonable to not believe what scientists say?, and "What ought the role of science be in society?"
Content:
Readings and discussions from the history, sociology and philosophy of science.
Assessment:
One mini-paper per tutorial and one major paper of at least 2,000 words at the end of the semester.
Prescribed texts:
* Note that ASSESSMENT, CONTACT, COORDINATOR, OBJECTIVES, POINTS, PRESCRIBEDTEXTS differs from the maintainer's version above. A log of variations is available.
2. History & Phil'y of Sci., Faculty of Science (v4, p196) : Next:136-202 | Prev:136-103
Status: Official 1996 Date created: Oct 9 1995 Last modified: Oct 9 1995 Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
Maintained by: Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Arts.
Copyright © University of Melbourne 1995,1996.