LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

FS4253

Academic Year of enrolment:

2018

Year of supply:

2019/2020

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES

Disciplinary Sector:

LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

GATTEI STEFANO

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

228

Prerequisites:

None

Objectives

The course aims at providing an introduction to the core ideas and
problems of philosophy of science, and to show how the very idea of
'science' evolved through the centuries.
In the second part, the course aims at presenting as ample a survey as possible of the various forms of reasoning - calling attention to their differences and aims, highlighting different strategies of analysis and discussion, and pointing to some possible ways to criticize and counteract them.

Contents

In the first part, the course aims to offer an historical introduction to the problems that
characterize philosophy of science, from antiquity to the present. Special
attention, however, will be paid to contemporary epistemological issues,
from the crisis of foundationalism at the end of the XIX century, to
Wittgenstein, Logical Positivism, Popper and the so-called 'new
philosophy of science.
In the second part, devoted to critical thinking, after an introduction to basic principles of logic, the course will present and discuss the various forms of structured reasoning: demonstrations, arguments, fallacies and para-arguments.

Extended Syllabus

Part I. Historical and critical introduction to the problems of philosophy of science

1. The problem of the foundation of knowledge in antiquity
The Presocratics and Socrates; Plato and Aristotle; Stoics and Epicureans.

2. The Middle Ages
Adelard of Bath, Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Nicholas of Autrecourt.

3. The Scientific Revolution
Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Giordano Bruno and Nicholas of Cusa; Galileo; Newton.

4. Modern Philosophy
Francis Bacon's empiricism and René Descartes' rationalism; John Locke; George Berkeley; David Hume's criticism of induction; Immanuel Kant's a
priori synthetic judgements.

5. The 19th Century
Auguste Comte and Positivism; Richard Averarius and Ernst Mach, John Herschel, John S. Mill and William Whewell; Poincaré's and Duhem's
conventionalism.

6. The 20th Century
The "crisis of physics" at the turn of the century; Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus; Logical Positivism and the criterion of meaning; Karl Popper
and Fries' trilemma: from falsification as a criterion of demarcation to the proposal of methodological rules; the "new philosophy of science" and
the role of history: Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos and Paul Feyerabend.

Part II. Logic and Critical thinking

1. Introduction to logic
Structures and terms of argumentative reasoning; classical logic (Aristotle) and its revisions and systematizations in the Middle Ages; Fregean logic and propositional calculus; modal logic.

2. Critical thinking
Logic, sialectic and rhetoric; valid arguments, fallacies, and para-arguments.

3. The practice of scientific reasoning
Reading of passages from Galileo's Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems.

Recommended Bibliography

For the first part, students may choose one of the two following textbooks (in order of
preference, from the one closer to the topics presented in class):
M1) David Oldroyd, "Storia della filosofia della scienza", Il Saggiatore,
Milano 1986.
M2) John Losee, "Filosofia della scienza. Un'introduzione", Il Saggiatore,
Milano, 2001.
As to the twentieth century, either of the two textbooks is to be
complemented with ONE of the following texts (again, in order of
preference):
T1) Giulio Giorello (a cura di), "Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza",
Bompiani, Milano 2006 (only chapters 1-2)
T2) Roberta Corvi, "La teoria della conoscenza nel Novecento", UTET
Università, Torino 2007 (only the Introduction and chapters 3-5)
T3) Giovanni Boniolo, Paolo Vidali, "Filosofia della scienza", Bruno
Mondadori, Milano 1999 (only chapters 2 (§5-8), 3 and 5 (§4-6)).
T4) Marco Buzzoni, "Filosofia della scienza", La Scuola, Brescia 2008 (only
chapters 3, 5 and 6 (§6.1-6.2)).
For the second part, the textbook is A) Giovanni Boniolo e Paolo Vidali, "Strumenti per ragionare. Le regole logiche, la pratica ilargomentativa, l’inferenza probabilistica",
Milano-Torino: Pearson, 2017.

Teaching Methods

Lectures

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Each student (individually, not in gropus) will have to submite a paper on the subject of the second part of the course, in which (s)he presents, discusses and, if possible, criticizes four examples of structured reasonings (one for each kind: demonstrations, arguments, fallacies and para-arguments): these should be taken from everyday experiences, newspapers, television, books, and whatnot. The paper will have to be sent by email at least 3 days ahead of the date in which the candidate intends to take the examination. The paper is a necessary requirement for the exam, and will receive up to 10 points (one third of the overall grade).
There will follow an oral examination (in case the candidates are numerous, a preliminary written examination may take place).

Contacts/More Information

Exams will be based on the subjects presented in class.

For thos STUDENTS WHO WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND CLASSES:
these students are encouraged to get a copy of the notes taken by their colleagues.
In case this is not possible, or anyway too difficult, they are required to study either M1 or M2 in its entirety, and complement the part on the
twentieth century with either T1, T2, T3 or T4; in addition, the textbook for the second part of the course, on critical thinking, is A.
Students who did not attend classes are also kindly asked to let the professor know about their choice at the time of examinations.

For any questions or clarifications, please contact the professor.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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