Syllabus, PHIL 650/HIST 606, History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Spring 2002
Lindley Darden and Robert Friedel
University of Maryland, College Park
Aims of the course: This course will look at three interlocking themes in the history and philosophy of science and technology: theory, experiment, and instrumentation. Another cross-cutting theme in the course is the debate between realism and social construction. It is assumed that students have read and are familiar with critiques of Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Karl Popper's Logic of Scientific Discovery and Conjectures and Refutations.
Instructors:
Lindley Darden, Professor of Philosophy. Office: 1107C Skinner; Mailbox: Philosophy Department, 1125A Skinner; Phone: 301-405-5699. Office hours: 2-3 Tuesday and by appointment. Email: darden@carnap.umd.edu Web page: www.inform.umd.edu/PHIL/faculty/LDarden/
Robert Friedel, Professor of History, Professor of History. Office: 3213 Francis Scott Key; Mail: History Department, 2117 Key; Phone: 301-405-4327. Office hours: 11-12 Monday; 1-2 Tuesday and by appointment. Email: Friedel@umd.edu.
Requirements: Evaluation in this course will be based on two basic elements, each worth 50% of the final grade:
• Class Participation: this has several components: regular and diligent completion of reading assignments and contribution to seminar discussions; the leading of two seminar meetings (in cooperation with one other student), and the preparation of one brief essay review.
•Literature Review: Final project: this assignment consists of submission of a proposal and preliminary bibliography by March 12, the submission of a completed essay, generally 10-15 pages in length, and the preparation of a one page written summary and an oral presentation to the seminar.
Promptness on all assignments is mandatory. Regular class attendance for the entire class period is expected.
Leading class discussions entails several responsibilities:
•Submission to the class one week prior to the assigned seminar meeting a one page guide, one half of which consists of a list a key themes of the reading, and the other half consists of key questions around which it is proposed to organize the discussion. This guide may be submitted electronically to the class listserv (see below) as late as the Friday before the assigned seminar meeting. Leading assignments will usually be share by two students, who should collaborate on the preparation of the guide.
•Submission to the assigned seminar meeting a summary of key book reviews and scholarly responses to the reading. This should include copies of two reviews or substantial excerpts.
•Preparation (individually) of one essay review of 3 to 5 pages, covering a key theme of the reading. This is due one week after the assignment seminar meeting (this is to be done for only one of your leadership assignments during the semester)
The success of the seminar depends greatly on members carrying out their leadership responsibilities in a reliable and diligent fashion. It is your responsibility to find substitutes should you not be able to fulfill your assigned duties in this regard.
Listserv: There is an email discussion forum for the class. All students should have email accounts and will be expected to receive the material on the list on a regular basis throughout the semester. If you do not have an email account, go to the Computer Science Center and sign up for a "wam" account. Get handouts on using email and the User’s Guide to Listserv. Once you have an email account, from your regular email account, subscribe to the listserv: send a message to listserv@listserv.umd.edu Put no subject in the subject line. As the only line of the text of the message type: subscribe helix first-name last-name, e.g., subscribe helix Charles Darwin When you want to send messages to the class, send the message to helix@listserv.umd.edu Note the difference between the address for subscribing and the address for sending messages. Use the list to continue class discussions, get and post discussion questions, and class announcements.
Honesty: Honesty on the part of students is presumed. The student is expected to be familiar with the University of Maryland Code of Academic Integrity available at
http://www.inform.umd.edu/jpo/. Students may get help with the grammar and structure of their writing (such as is available at the Writing Center, Room 0125, Taliaferro Hall), but they may not get unacknowledged help with the content of their work. Please contact the instructor with any questions about what is acceptable or unacceptable outside help. Learn exactly what plagiarism is and avoid it. The Code is administered by the Student Honor Council, which strives to promote a community of trust on the College Park campus. Allegations of academic dishonesty can be reported directly to the Honor Council (314-8206) by any member of the campus community.
Required texts
Bijker, Wiebe E.(1995), Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs (Inside Technology), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
ISBN 0262522276 (pbk)
Collins, H. M. (1992), Changing Order: Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
ISBN 0-226-11376-0 (pbk)
Galison, Peter (1997), Image & Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
ISBN 0-226-27917-0 (pbk)
Hacking, Ian (1983), Representing and Intervening. New York: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-28246-2 (paperback)
Hacking, Ian (1999), The Social Construction of What? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
ISBN 0-674-00412-4 (pbk)
MacKenzie, Donald (1993), Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
ISBN 0-262-63147-4 (pbk)
Useful for Reference
Newton-Smith, W. H. (ed.) (2000), A Companion to the Philosophy of Science. Oxford: Blackwell.
ISBN 0-631-17024-3 (hbk)
Machamer, Peter K. and M. Silberstein (eds.) (forthcoming 2002), Blackwell's Guide to the Philosophy of Science.
Philosopher's Index
ISIS Critical Bibliography
Assignments
Tues. Jan 29, Introduction--Overview of themes for the course
Theory, Experiment, Instrumentation
Realism vs. Social Construction
Tues. Feb. 5, Theory, Instrumentation, Experiment, Image & Logic
Carl Craver, (forthcoming) "Structures of Scientific Theories" (handout)
David Gooding, (2000), "Experiment," in Newton-Smith, W. H. (ed.) (2000), A Companion to the Philosophy of Science. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 117-126 (handout)
Galison, Ch. 1
Tues. Feb. 12, Galison, Chs. 2,3,4,5
Tues. Feb. 19, Galison, Chs. 6,8,9
Tues. Feb. 26 (LD away) Social Construction of Technology
Trevor J. Pinch and Wiebe Bijker, "The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts....," in W. Bijker, T.P. Hughes, and T.J. Pinch (eds.), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 1987), pp. 17-30
Thomas P. Hughes, "The Evolution of Large Technological Systems," in Bijker, Hughes, and Pinch, pp. 31-82
Bijker, Chs. 1,2
Tues. Mar. 5, Bijker, Chs. 3,4,5
Tues. Mar. 12, Hacking, Representing and Intervening, Introduction and Chs. 9-12
Franklin, Allan (1989), "The Epistemology of Experiment," in David Gooding, Trevor Pinch, Simon Schaffer (eds.), The Uses of Experiment: Studies in the Natural Sciences. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 437-460.
Recommended: Hacking, Representing and Intervening, Chs. 1-8
Proposals for Final Projects due
Tues. Mar. 19, Hacking, Representing and Intervening, Chs. 13-16
Tues. Mar. 26, Spring Break, no class
Tues. Apr. 2, Collins, entire book
Culp, Sylvia (1995), "Objectivity in Experimental Inquiry: Breaking Data-Technique Circles," Philosophy of Science 62:438-458.
Tues. Apr. 9, (LD away) Technology
MacKenzie, Chs. 1-4
Tues. Apr. 16, MacKenzie, Chs. 5-8, Epilogue
Hacking Social Construction, Ch. 6
Tues. Apr. 23, Hacking, The Social Construction of What?
Required, Ch. 3, 7
Strongly recommended, Chs. 1, 2
Tues. Apr. 30, Discovery & Invention--Contrasting Views and Methods
Final Projects due
Tues. May 7, Class Presentations of Final Projects
Tues. May 14, Class Presentations, continued