00388 - Philosophy of Science

Course contents

This course will focus on some main and basic issues concerning philosophy of science and epistemology, with particular regard tolife sciences. At first, these themes will be (even in the frame of the origin and development of Western thought): the notion of “scientific knowledge”, the relationship between formal and real sciences, the problem of the “scientific progress” and the question of science hierarchy, the notion of “theory” and the relations among theories. Then, other fundamental epistemological topics will be explained, as deductive and inductive knowledge, with special reference both to logical questions of the scientific knowledge and to inductive method as well as to development of epistemological principles in modern and contemporary age; the hypothetical-deductive and the deductive-nomological models; the difference between theoretical positions as conventionalism, verificationism (and the problem of meaning and reliable knowledge), falsificationism, naturalized epistemology. The final arguments will concern some aspects of epistemology of biology: the relationship between reductionism and emergence and the question of explanatory pluralism, innate/aquired dichotomy, the discussion about scientific laws in life sciences and some open questions concerning evolutionism. The conclusion will be devoted to treat such aspects within recent developments of mind studies, as part of biological world, and neuroscience, as boundary research field among biology, psychology and philosophy.

Readings/Bibliography

Examination textbooks:

- C. Glymour, Thinking things through. An introduction to philosophical issues and achievements, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1992

- G. Boniolo, S. Giaimo (a cura di), Filosofia e scienze della vita. Un'analisi dei fondamenti della vita e della biomedicina, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2008.

During the lessons passages are read and expounded from: G. Boniolo, M.L. Dalla Chiara, G. Giorello, C. Sinigaglia, S. Tagliagambe, Filosofia della scienza, Raffaello Cortina, Milano, 2002.

It will be possibleestablishing others textbooks for foreign students.

Optional textbooks:

- T. Pievani, Introduzione alla filosofia della biologia, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2005.

- M. Matteuzzi, La teoria della forma. Studio sull'invarianza dell'espressione, Aracne, Roma, 2012.

Teaching methods

Frontal teaching. Reading and discussing of (parts of)philosophical-scientific books

Assessment methods

Oral examination.

Office hours

See the website of Maurizio Matteuzzi