Important: Please sign up online for two 7-minute presentations as soon as possible.
| Wk | Date | Topic | Reading Due | Coursework Due | Presenter |
| 1.1 | Jan 15 | Introduction: Philosophy of science | Hitchcock, Introduction (Hitchcock §0) | - | - |
| 1.2 | Jan 17 | Introduction: Philosophy and science | Norton, Philosophy in Einstein's Science (Norton) See these sample notes that you might use if you were presenting this article. | - | - |
| 2.1 | Jan 22 | Thought experiments 1 | Brown, Why thought experiments transcend empiricism (Hitchcock §1) Optional further reading: Brown's SEP Article or book on thought experiments (available in the library), and Gendler on Galileo's thought experiments. | - | Nick |
| 2.2 | Jan 24 | Thought experiments 2 | Norton, Why thought experiments do not transcend empiricism (Hitchcock § 2) | - | - |
| 3.1 | Jan 29 | Scientific Realism: The general debate 1 | Leplin, A Theory’s Predictive Success can Warrant Belief in the Unobservable Entities it Postulates (Hitchcock §5) | - | Ben |
| 3.2 | Jan 31 | Scientific Realism: The general debate 2 | Kukla and Walmsley, A Theory’s Predictive Success does not Warrant Belief in the Unobservable Entities it Postulates (Hitchcock §6) | - | Roland |
| 4.1 | Feb 5 | Scientific Realism: A case study on caloric 1 | Psillos, Caloric and Resisting the Pessimistic Meta-Induction (Psillos 1999 pg.101-129) | - | Kevin |
| 4.2 | Feb 7 | Scientific Realism: A case study on caloric 2 | Chang, Preservative realism and its discontents: Revisiting Caloric (Chang 2003) | - | Roland |
| 5.1 | Feb 12 | Laws of nature 1 | Roberts, There are no Laws of the Social Sciences (Hitchcock §7) | - | Vanessa |
| 5.2 | Feb 14 | - | Class Cancelled | - | - |
| 6.1 | Feb 19 | Laws of Nature 2 | Kincaid, There are Laws in the Social Sciences (Hitchcock §8) | - | - |
| 6.2 | Feb 21 | Causation | Norton, Causation as Folk Science (Norton 2003) and Dowe, Causes are Physically Connected to their Effects: Why Preventers and Omissions are not Causes (Hitchcock §9) | - | Vanessa (Dowe) |
| 7.1 | Feb 26 | Scientific explanation 1, Midterm Review (See the Study Guide) | Lipton, What is a good explanation? (Hon & Rakover pp.43-60) | - | Ben |
| 7.2 | Feb 28 | - | No Reading - Midterm Study Guide | Midterm Exam | - |
| 8.1 | Mar 5 | Reduction of one scientific theory to another 1 | Keller, It Is Possible to Reduce Biological Explanations to Explanations in Chemistry and/or Physics (Ayala & Arp §1) | - | Theo |
| 8.2 | Mar 7 | Reduction of one scientific theory to another 2 | Dupré, It Is Not Possible to Reduce Biological Explanations to Explanations in Chemistry and/or Physics (Ayala & Apr §2) | - | Hannah |
| 9.1 | Mar 12 | Philosophy of biology: Genes and Traits 1 | Sarkar, Genes Encode Information for Phenotypic Traits (Hitchcock §13) | - | Alex G. |
| 9.2 | Mar 14 | Philosophy of biology: Genes and Traits 2 | Godfrey-Smith, Genes do not Encode Information for Phenotypic Traits (Hitchcock §14) | - | Alex G. |
| 10.1 | Mar 19 | Spring Break | Spring Break | Spring Break | - |
| 10.2 | Mar 21 | Spring Break | Spring Break | Spring Break | - |
| 11.1 | Mar 26 | Philosophy of psychology: The mind 1 | Carruthers, The Mind is a System of Modules Shaped by Natural Selection (Hitchcock §15) | - | Klaudija |
| 11.2 | Mar 28 | Class Cancelled | Class Cancelled | - | - |
| 12.1 | Apr 2 | Philosophy of psychology: The mind 2 | Woodward and Cowie, The Mind is not (just) a System of Modules Shaped (just) by Natural Selection (Hitchcock §16) | - | Klaudija |
| 12.2 | Apr 4 | Philosophy of physics: The Arrow of time 1 | Price, On the Origins of the Arrow of Time: Why there is Still a Puzzle about the Low-Entropy Past (Hitchcock §11) | - | Hannah |
| 13.1 | Apr 9 | Philosophy of physics: The Arrow of time 2 | Callender, There is no Puzzle about the Low-Entropy Past (Hitchcock §12) | - | Mychael |
| 13.2 | Apr 11 | Determinism 1 | Norton, The Dome: An Unexpectedly Simple Failure of Determinism (Start with Norton's notes and then read Norton 2008) | Term Paper Outline Due | -. |
| 14.1 | Apr 16 | Class Cancelled | Class Cancelled | - | - |
| 14.2 | Apr 18 | Scientific Confirmation | The HD Method and its problems (Guest lecturer: TBD) | - | Theo |
| 15.1 | Apr 23 | Duhem-Quine Thesis 1 | Duhem, Physical Theory and Experiment (Curd, Cover & Pincock) | - | Kevin |
| 15.2 | Apr 25 | Duhem-Quine Thesis 2 | Laudan, Demystifying Underdetermination | - | Mychael |
| 16.1 | Apr 30 | Exam Review | None | Term paper due | - |
| 16.2 | May 2 | Final Exam | Final Exam | Final Exam | - |