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Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (B-KUL-W0W06A)

6 ECTSEnglish52 Second termCannot be taken as part of an examination contract
Ramsey Grant (coordinator) |  Ramsey Grant
POC Philosophy (internationaal)

Aims

The aim of the course is to introduce students to central topics and methods in contemporary epistemology and philosophy of science, and to train their philosophical reading and writing skills.

At the end of the course students should:

  • understand the central issues in contemporary epistemology and philosophy of science, including central concepts, theses, arguments, methods and positions;
  • understand relevant relations between these issues;
  • be able to clearly and concisely expound these issues in their own words;
  • be able to illustrate, describe, contrast and relate the concepts;
  • be able to critically discuss questions and assess arguments relating to these issues;
  • be able to explain, apply, contrast and compare the theories;
  • be able to offer their own well-founded views on these issues.

 

As far as reading skills are concerned, students should:

  • be able to reveal the structure and coherence of a (relatively short) philosophical text;
  • be able to identify and analyze arguments and explain the text;
  • be aware of the rhetorical, stylistic and logical dimensions of a text.

 

As far as writing skills are concerned, students should:

  • be able to write a text that is accessible to colleagues;
  • be able to formulate a written research question and to develop and defend a position;
  • be able to clearly distinguish between their own words and other people’s words and thoughts;
  • be aware of the formal aspects of writing (language, spelling, grammar, academic language, structure, style).

Previous knowledge

The course aims to be accessible to non-philosophers, e.g. students aiming to sharpen their insight into the philosophical aspects of their discipline. Hence, no specific previous philosophical knowledge is required.

No prior knowledge of logic is presupposed. However, students who did not take an introductory course in logic are recommended to make use of the "Open Online Courses in Philosophy: Introduction to Logic". That course is accessible via this link.

For this course, it is "Unit 1: Logic and deductive validity" that is particularly important. That course unit is accessible via this link.

A basic general scientific knowledge (as typically acquired in high school) is presupposed.

A good command of English and good reading and writing skills are presupposed.

Is included in these courses of study

Activities

3 ects. Philosophy of Science (B-KUL-W0W06a)

3 ECTSEnglishFormat: Lecture26 Second term
Ramsey Grant
POC Philosophy (internationaal)

Content

This teaching activity deals with the following topics:

  • what is science?,
  • scientific reasoning,
  • explanation in science,
  • realism and antirealism about science,
  • scientific change and scientific revolutions,
  • philosophy of the special sciences (e.g. biology),
  • science and its critics.

In 2023-2024, the text seminar will be taught by Gianmaria Dani.

Course material

Textbook: Samir Okasha, Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd edition, 2016, Oxford University Press

A selection of primary texts (to be discussed during the seminars) will be made available via Toledo.

Format: more information

This teaching activity involve lectures (taught by Ramsey) and text seminars (taught by a PhD student - teaching assistant).

Each week during the second half of the semester (weeks 7-13), there will be 3 hours of lecture, and 1 hours of text seminar.

The text seminars are meant to deepen as well as to broaden the material covered in the lectures:

  • some texts discussed during the seminars illustrate/defend/criticize a position that was explained during the lectures;
  • other texts discussed during the seminars address relevant philosophical issues that are not directly covered in the lectures.

3 ects. Epistemology (B-KUL-W0W07a)

3 ECTSEnglishFormat: Lecture26 Second term
Ramsey Grant
POC Philosophy (internationaal)

Content

This teaching activity deals with the following topics:

  • the nature of knowledge,
  • the Gettier problem involved in defining knowledge,
  • the value of knowledge,
  • the structure of justification (foundationalism vs coherentism),
  • internalism/externalism about justification,
  • virtue epistemology,
  • sources of knowledge: perception, a priori and inferential knowledge,
  • ancient scepticism, scepticism about other minds, radical scepticism.

In 2023-2024, the text seminar will be taught by Shahab Khademi.

Course material

Textbook: Duncan Pritchard, What is this thing called knowledge? 4th edition, 2018, Routledge

A selection of primary texts (to be discussed during the seminars) will be made available via Toledo.

Format: more information

This teaching activity will involve lectures and text seminars.

Each week during the first half of the semester (weeks 1-6), there will be 3 hours of lecture, and 1 hour of text seminar.

The text seminars are meant to deepen as well as to broaden the material covered in the lectures:

  • some texts discussed during the seminars illustrate/defend/criticize a position that was explained during the lectures;
  • other texts discussed during the seminars address relevant philosophical issues that are not directly covered in the lectures.

Evaluation

Evaluation: Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (B-KUL-W2W06a)

Type : Partial or continuous assessment with (final) exam during the examination period
Description of evaluation : Written, Paper/Project
Type of questions : Open questions
Learning material : None

Explanation


The evaluation consists of two papers and an on-campus written exam.

Papers: students will have to write two short papers (1000 words each): one on epistemology and one on philosophy of science. These papers will be assigned during the semester (roughly: the first one in week 5 and the second in week 11 of the semester). Students will have two to three weeks to write and submit each paper.

Exam: there will be an on-campus written exam during the examination period. This exam will have essay-style questions, and will be closed book. At the end of the semester, students will receive an exhaustive list of possible exam questions. At the actual exam, they will get 4 questions from this list (viz., 2 on epistemology and 2 on philosophy of science); out of these 4 questions, they will have to answer 2 (viz., 1 on epistemology and 1 on philosophy of science).

Each of the two papers counts toward 20% of the total grade. The written exam counts towards 60% of the total grade.

Students who did not submit (one of) the papers or did not take the written exam will receive a total grade ‘NA’ (not taken the exam). 

Information about retaking exams

Both the papers and the on-campus written exam can be retaken in the third examination period by those students who received an NA or an insufficient grade. 

Students who have to retake the course in the next academic year have to re-do all parts of the exam.