Topics in Philosophy of Science
PHIL 6390/ HUMA 6390
Topics in Philosophy of Science: Natural and Human Sciences
Fall 2023
Instructor: Dr. Jonathan Tsou
Course Description: This graduate seminar examines special topics in contemporary analytic philosophy of science, including topics in both the natural sciences (e.g., physics, biology) and human/ social sciences (e.g., medicine, psychology). The instructor and graduate students will choose topics based on a possible list of topics (e.g., values in science, mechanisms in the biological and human sciences, structural realism, the looping effects of human kinds). Students are expected to regularly present on the reading materials and to propose topics for the course. Evaluation will be based on classroom participation and performance on writing assignments.
Course Texts:
PDFs provided by instructor
Course Evaluation:
Attendance / Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50%
Writing Assignment 1 (week 8) . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .10%
Writing Assignment 2 (week 12) . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10%
Final Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30%
Writing assignments are 6-8 page (double spaced, times new roman 12 font) short commentaries on one of the topics of the course. Your commentary should identify a point of conflict in the literature and argue for a position. Alternatively, your commentary can focus on explaining and evaluating a position in the literature. The final paper is on a topic of your choice. By or before week 7, you should propose the topic of your final paper (18-24 pages) and include a list of 4-5 readings (readings should be around 20 pages) for discussion in class.
Possible Topics
Below is a non-exhaustive list of suggested topics. Unless noted otherwise, topics can be covered in 1 class session. Students may choose among the topics listed below, or they may choose their own topic.
Epistemic Justice (2 week unit)
Fricker, Miranda, 2007. Epistemic Injustice. Oxford University Press.
Daukas, Nancy, 2006. “Epistemic Trust and Social Location,” Episteme: A Journal of Social Epistemology, 3(1): 109–124.
Anderson, Elizabeth. 2012. “Epistemic Justice as a Virtue of Social Institutions” Social Epistemology: A Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Policy, 26(2): 163–173.
Dotson, Kristie, 2011. “Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing,” Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, 26(2): 236–257.
Crichton, Paul, Carel Havi, and Kidd, Ian James, 2017. “Epistemic Injustice in Psychiatry”. BJPsychBull
Bueter, Anke 2019. Epistemic Injustice and Psychiatric Classification. Philosophy of Science.
Mechanisms (2 week unit)
Machamer, P.K., L. Darden, and C.F. Craver, 2000 [MDC], “Thinking about Mechanisms”, Philosophy of Science, 67:1–25.
Glennan, Stewart, 2002, “Rethinking Mechanistic Explanation”, Philosophy of Science, 69: S342–S353.
Bechtel, W. and A. Abrahamsen, 2005, “Explanation: A Mechanistic Alternative”, Studies in History and Philosophy of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 36: 421–441.
Craver, C.F. 2006, “When Mechanistic Models Explain”, Synthese, 153: 355–376.
Paul, L. A., 2014, Transformative Experience, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Paul, L. A. 2015, “What You Can’t Expect When You’re Expecting”, Res Philosophica, 92(2): 149–170.
Natural Kinds (2 week unit)
Hacking, Ian 1990. “Natural Kinds”, in R. B. Barrett and R. Gibson, (eds.), Perspectives on Quine, Oxford: Blackwell: 129–141.
Boyd, Richard. 1991. “Realism, Anti-Foundationalism and the Enthusiasm for Natural Kinds”, Philosophical Studies, 61: 127–148.
Boyd, Richard, 1999. “Homeostasis, Species, and Higher Taxa”, in R. Wilson (ed.), Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press: 141–186.
Dupré, J., 1981. “Natural Kinds and Biological Taxa”, Philosophical Review, 90: 66–90.
Khalidi, Muhammed Ali , 2023. Natural Kinds. Cambridge Element
The Looping Effects of Human Kinds (2 week unit)
Hacking, Ian. 1995. “The looping effects of human kinds,” in Causal Cognition: A Multidisciplinary Debate, ed. D. Sperber, D. Premack and A. J. Premack, New York: Clarendon Press: 351–394.
Hacking, Ian. 2007. Kinds of People: Moving Targets. Proceedings of the British Academy.
Tsou, Jonathan. 2007. Hacking on Looping Effects and Psychiatric Classification. What is an Indifferent and Interactive kind? International Studies in Philosophy of Science
Tekin, Serife. 2014. The Missing Self in Hacking’s Looping Effects
Values in Science (2 week unit)
Elliot, Kevin, 2022. Values in Science. Cambridge Element
Kuhn, T. S. 1977. Objectivity, Value Judgment, and Theory Choice.
Longino, Helen 1990. Science as Social Knowledge. Princeton University Press.
Underdetermination (2 week unit).
Gilles, D., 1993, “The Duhem Thesis and the Quine Thesis,”, in Philosophy of Science in the Twentieth Century, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 98–116.
Laudan, L., 1990, “Demystifying Underdetermination”, in Scientific Theories, C. Wade Savage (ed.), (Series: Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 14), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 267–297.
Stanford, P. K., 2001, “Refusing the Devil’s Bargain: What Kind of Underdetermination Should We Take Seriously?”, Philosophy of Science, 68: S1–S12.
Stanford, P. K. 2006, Exceeding Our Grasp: Science, History, and the Problem of Unconceived Alternatives, New York: Oxford University Press.
Inductive Risk (2 week unit)
Douglas, Heather, 2000. “Inductive Risk and Values in Science.” Philosophy of Science.
Douglas, Heather, 2009. “Science, Policy, and the Value Free Ideal.” University of Pittsburgh Press.
Elliott, Kevin C., 2013, “Douglas on Values: From Indirect Roles to Multiple Goals,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 44 (3), 375-383.
Intemann, Kristen, 2005, “Feminism, Underdetermination, and Values in Science,” Philosophy of Science, 72, 1001-1012.
Brown, Matthew, 2022. “Values in Science beyond Underdetermination and Inductive Risk.” Philosophy of Science
Worrall, John, 1989, “Structural Realism: The Best of Both Worlds?”, Dialectica, 43(1–2): 99–124.
Ladyman, James, 1998, “What Is Structural Realism?”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 29(3): 409–424.
Van Fraassen, Bas, 2007, “Structuralism(s) about Science: Some Common Problems”, Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 81: 45–61.
Summerfield, Donna, 1991. “Modest A Priori Knowledge.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.
Friedman, Michael, 1997. “Philosophical Naturalism.” Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association.
Friedman, Michael, 2001. Dynamics of Reason. CSLI Publications.
Stump, David 2016. Conceptual Change and the Philosophy of Science: Alternative Interpretations of the A Priori. Routledge
Chang, Hasok 2007. Inventing Temperature. Oxford University Press.
Elliot, Kevin, 2012. “Epistemic and Methodological Iteration in Scientific Research.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science.
Kusch, Martin. 2020. Relativism. Cambridge Elements
Feminist Philosophy of Science (2 week unit)
Harding, Sandra, 1986, The Science Question in Feminism. Cornell University Press
Haraway, Donna “Situated Knowledges,” In Simians, Cyborgs, and Women, New York: Routledge
Longino, Helen, 1994, “In Search of Feminist Epistemology,” Monist, 77: 472–485.
Lloyd, Elisabeth, 1995, “Feminism as Method: What Scientists Get that Philosophers Don’t,” Philosophical Topics, 23: 189–220.
Philosophy of Race (2 week unit)
Mills, Charles (2000). “But What are You Really?” In Race, Class, and Community Identity.
Haslanger, Sally (2000). “Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them to Be?” Noûs.
Andreasen, Robin (2000). Race: Biological Reality or Social Construct? Philosophy of Science.
Hardimon, Michael O. (2003). The Ordinary Concept of Race. Journal of Philosophy.
Hacking, Ian (2005). Why Race Still Matters. Daedelus.
Philosophy of Technology/ Ethics of Technology
Robson, Gregory, and Tsou, Jonathan (eds.) (2023). Technology Ethics. Routledge.
Cummins, Robert, and Pollock, John (eds.) (1991). Philosophy and AI. MIT Press.
Clark, Andy and David Chalmers, 1998, “The Extended Mind”, Analysis, 58(1): 7–19.
Stegenga, Jacob (2018) To Care and Cure. University of Chicago Press.
Stegenga, Jacob (2018). Medical Nihilism. Oxford University Press.
Plutynski, Anya (2018). Explaining Cancer. Oxford University Press.
Solomon, Miriam (2015). Making Medical Knowledge. Oxford University Press.
Tsou, Jonathan (2021). Philosophy of Psychiatry. Cambridge Elements
Philosophy of Psychology (2 week unit)
Hatfield, Gary, 1994. “Philosophy of Psychology as Philosophy of Science.” Philosophy of Science.
Thagard, Paul, 2003. Philosophy of Psychology and Cognitive Science. Elsevier.
Shapiro, Lawrence A. 2005. Can Psychology be a Unified Science? Philosophy of Science
Naturalist Accounts of Consciousness (2 week unit)
Nagel, T. 1974. “What is it like to be a bat?” Philosophical Review, 83: 435–456.
Chalmers, David, 1996. “Facing Up to the Hard Problem of Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies.
Churchland, Patricia S. 1996. “The hornswoggle problem”. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 3: 402–8.
John Bickle, 2003, Philosophy and Neuroscience: A Ruthlessly Reductive Account. Springer
Gilbert, Margaret (1989). On Social Facts, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Searle, John (1995). The Construction of Social Reality. Free Press.
Hacking, Ian (1999). The Social Construction of What? Harvard University Press.
Rosenberg, Alexander (1980). Philosophy of Social Science. Routledge.
Oppenheim, P. and H. Putnam, 1958, “The unity of science as a working hypothesis”, in H. Feigl et al. (eds.), Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, v. 2, University of Minnesota Press.
Fodor, J., 1974, “Special sciences, or the disunity of science as a working hypothesis”, Synthese, 28: 77–115.
Pluralism / The Stanford School (2 week unit)
Suppes, Patrick, 1978. “The Plurality of Science.” Philosophy of Science.
Hacking, Ian, 1996 “The Disunities of The Sciences”, in Galison and Stump 1996: 37–74.
Dupré, John 1981. “Natural Kinds and Biological Taxa”, The Philosophical Review, 90(1): 66–90.
Galison, Peter and David J. Stump, eds., 1996, The Disunity of Science: Boundaries, Contexts, and Power, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Cartwright, Nancy, 1999, The Dappled World. Cambridge University Press.
Richardson, Alan, and Uebel, Thomas, 2007. Cambridge Companion to Logical Empiricism. Cambridge University Press.
Philosophy of History/ Narrative Explanation
Hempel, Carl, 1966,. Aspects of Scientific Explanation. Free Press.
Danto, Arthur, 1985. Narration and Knowledge. Columbia University Press.
Scientific Realism (2 week Unit)
van Fraassen, Bas C., 1980, The Scientific Image, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Laudan, Larry, 1981, “A Confutation of Convergent Realism”, Philosophy of Science, 48: 19–48.
Ian Hacking, 1983, Representing and Intervening, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frost-Arnold, Greg, 2010, “The No-Miracles Argument for Realism: Inference to an Unacceptable Explanation”, Philosophy of Science, 77(1): 35–58.
Foucault, Michel, 1972. History of Madness, Jean Khalfa (ed.), Jonathan Murphy and Jean Khalfa (trans.), New York: Routledge, 2006.
Gutting, Gary, 2006. “Foucault and the History of Madness.” Cambridge Companion to Foucault.
History of 20th Century American Psychiatry
Grob, Gerald, 1991. From Asylum to Community. Princeton University Press.
Mayes, Rick, and Horvitz, Allan, 2005, “DSM-III and the Revolution in Psychiatric Classification.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
Douglas, Heather, 2009. Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Brown, Matthew B., 2004. The Political Philosophy of Science Policy. Minerva, 42(1), pp.77-95.
Lee, Carole, 2015. “Commensuration Bias in Peer Review.” Philosophy of Science.
Shaw, Jamie, 2023. “Peer Review, Innovation, and Predicting the Future of Science: The Scope of Lotteries in Science Funding Policy.” Philosophy of Science
Scientific Explanation (2 week unit)
Hempel, Carl G. 1966. Aspects of Scientific Explanation. Free Press.
Kitcher, Philip, and Salmon, Wesley, eds., 1989, Scientific Explanation. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, v. 13. University of Minnesota Press.
Khalifa, Kareem, 2017. Understanding, Explanation, and Scientific Knowledge. Cambridge University Press.
* Featured Philosopher of Science
Students can also choose a unit devoted to the work of particular philosopher of science, such as Rudolf Carnap, Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend, Ian Hacking, W.V. Quine, Nancy Cartwright, or Helen Longino.
Course Schedule
Classes meet on Thursdays, 4:00-6:45 pm, in JO 3.536
Week 1 Aug 24 Introduction to the course
Week 2 Aug 31 Epistemic Injustice
Week 3 Sept 7 Epistemic Injustice in Psychiatry
Week 4 Sept 14 TBA
Week 5 Sept 21 No class
Week 6 Sept 28 TBA
Week 7 Oct 5 TBA
Week 8 Oct 12 TBA, Writing Assignment 1 Due
Week 9 Oct 19 TBA
Week 10 Oct 26 TBA
Week 11 Nov 2 TBA
Week 12 Nov 9 TBA, Writing Assignment 2 Due
Week 13 Nov 16 TBA
Week 14 Nov 23 No class – Thanksgiving
Week 15 Nov 30 TBA
Week 16 Dec 7 Optional Class
Exam week Dec 14 ** Final Paper Due, Thurs, Dec 14 **
Grading Scale
Letter Grade Range
A 90-100
A- 86-89
B+ 82-85
B 78-81
B- 74-77
C+ 70-73
C 62-69
F 0-61
Academic Integrity and Dishonesty
The value of this course depends on each student doing his or her own work. Academic dishonesty undermines individual learning and is unfair to the other students in class. Academic dishonesty in any form—including plagiarism, collusion, cheating, and misrepresentation—will not be tolerated and will lead to failure in the course and being reported to the Dead of Students. For information on academic dishonesty, see UTD’s Academic Integrity and Academic Dishonesty pages. Students are expected to abide by UTD’s Student Code of Conduct and the Comet Creed: “As a Comet, I pledge honesty, integrity, and service in all that I do.”
Class Attendance and Participation
Students are expected to attend class regularly and be prepared to discuss the course materials. Students who fail to participate in class regularly are inviting scholastic difficulty. A portion of the grade for this course is directly tied to your attendance and participation. It also includes engaging in group or other activities during class that solicit your feedback on materials covered in the lectures.
Classroom Conduct
During class, please turn off your phones, and do not send text messages, surf the internet, or check email. During classroom discussions, please be courteous and respectful towards your peers and instructor.
Disability
It is the policy and practice of UTD to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. However, written notification from the Office of Student Accessibility (OSA) is required. If you are eligible to receive an accommodation and would like to request it for this course, please discuss it with me and allow one week advance notice. Students who have questions about receiving accommodations, or those who have, or think they may have, a disability (mobility, sensory, health, psychological, learning, etc.) are invited to contact OSA for a confidential discussion. OSA is located in the Student Administration Building, AD 2.224. They can be reached by phone at 972-883-2098, or by email at studentaccess@utdallas.edu.
Academic Support Resources
If you require academic support, please see the University’s Student Services and Support and Student Success Center pages.
The descriptions and timelines contained in this syllabus are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.