LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

FS4253

Academic Year of enrolment:

2022

Year of supply:

2023/2024

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:

VISTARINI TIZIANA

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

228

Prerequisites:

none

Objectives

the course is divided in two parts: an introductive-general part and a monographic one. The general part deals with some basic topics debated in the philosophical circles discussing foundational issues in contemporary science. It also deals with the main types of logical reasoning (symbolic logic, inferential rules, validity of deductive arguments and so on) and with how they are connected to the notion of scientific explanation. The monographic part develops an issue central to many contemporary debates on the metaphysical foundations of physics and of contemporary neuroscience: the nature of time and of our experience of it. Physical sciences often describe time in ways not smoothly reducible to our subjective experience. Indeed, the lesson on time extrapolated from science is in some way incompatible with our subjective representation of time. The course is an attempt to analyze the notion of physical time and the notion of experiential time through the comparative study of their properties, along with an analysis of possible ways of reconciling some of their apparently deep differences.

Contents

the course is divided in two parts: an introductive-general part and a monographic one.
The general part focuses on elements of symbolic logic (semantic and syntax of propositional logic, inferential rules of deductive logic, truth tables, validity of deductive arguments, logical equivalencies, material conditional). Moreover, we study how the tools of logic reasoning are connected to the notion of scientific explanation. Such analytical approach to the main topics in philosophy of science goes with some historical reconstruction of the main stages of development of scientific ideas, from Copernican revolution to nowadays, with a particular focus on physics and neuroscience.The monographic part focuses on the nature of time. The most empirically robust physical theories assign to time properties which turn out to be extremely counterintuitive. For example, time does not pass and our experience of the passage of time is not rooted in the physical nature of time. Rather that experience seems to be rooted in the nature of our minds for some, or in the nature of non-temporal physical processes for others. We will explore some popular scientific literature along with some philosophical literature mainly concerning issues about the nature of physical time and the nature of the perceived time.

Extended Syllabus

GENERAL PART:
Analytical introduction:

• Elements of symbolic logic, semantic and syntax of propositional logic, validity or invalidity of deductive arguments, truth tables, inferential rules of deductive logic, rules for formal demonstration of validity.
• What is science? The nature of scientific inference, deductive and inductive reasoning in science. The nature of scientific explanation. Scientific changes vs scientific revolution. Realism and antirealism.
Historical introduction:
Physics
1. Scientific revolution – Copernicus
2. Scientific method
• Galileo Galilei
• Isaac Newton
• Albert Einstein

Psychology and neuroscience:
1. Scientific revolution – Francis Bacon
2. Descartes and the mind-body problem
3. The origins of psychology.
4. Behaviorism
5. Cognitive sciences and cognitive neurosciences

MONOGRAPHIC PART:
What is time?
Assume that with “time” we mean “physical time”, can time’s nature be defined exclusively in terms of material events and processes unfolding in time? Or should we think that time is much more than the material events and processes happening in time? Assume that with “time” we mean “subjective time”, that is, the perception of time in terms of subjective feeling of the passage of time. Then, what is the nature of this experience? Does this experience relate to other regions of subjectivity?
If it does, in what ways? Finally, would you consider those properties of subjective time denied by physics, as being illusory or epiphenomenal? And so on. The guideline of this part is an attempt of exploring possible answers to these questions.

Recommended Bibliography

For the general part the main textbook is
(1) Samir Okasha, Philosophy of Science: Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016 (second edition).
(2) Irving Copi and Carl Cohen, Introduction to Logic, Prentice Hall, Inc.,1998

For the monographic part, the main textbooks are:
2. Kip Thorne, The science of Interstellar, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2018.
3. Marc Wittmann, Felt Time. The psychology of how we perceive time.Translated by Erik Butler, The MIT Press, London, 2015

Teaching Methods

Lecturing will be integrated by slides and class discussions.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Written examination: test with multiple choice questions and open questions.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree