Event Timeslots (1)
Thursday
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History and philosophy of science reflects on the historical and theoretical foundations, methods and aims of science. This includes further subjects like patterns of the historical development and the social structure of science. By tracing major scientific developments from the early modern period to the late 20th century, focusing especially on the exact and life sciences, this two-part module (see below) gives an overview over the present status of history and philosophy of science. It deals with problems of methods and scientific practices (like experimentation), certain key concepts (such as “explanation” and “understanding”), and it examines questions that focus on the significance of the historicity of scientific knowledge and the role of values in science or freedom of science.
The course is an open-format lecture (with seminar-like discussion elements) designed for the MA-program “History & Philosophy of Science and Logic” (HPS+Logic). It is also open to other interested advanced B.A. and M.A. students of philosophy and students from the natural sciences and other subjects (with basic knowledge in theoretical philosophy). The lecture is accompanied by the course “History and Philosophy of Science, II” that serves to deepen and to complement the topics of the lecture. Participation in both parts of the module is highly recommended. For students of HPS+Logic it is a requirement in order to complete the “Basic Module 1”. The language of the lecture will be English. You will be informed about modalities concerning credits in the first session.