2025

Topics in Philosophy of Science

Name: Topics in Philosophy of Science
Code: FIS09376D
6 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours
Scientific Area: History and Philosophy of Science

Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Sustainable Development Goals

Learning Goals

To give students tools that allow basic philosophical interrogation problematic about the structure and history of scientific discourse. Give an overview of the major authors and movements that interest the philosophy of the physical sciences.

Contents

Kant and the epistemology of newtonian physics - space and time, synthetic a priori, analogies of experience. The savants-philosophes of the end of the XIXth century: Maxwell, Boltzmann, Mach, Duhem e Poincaré. French philosophy of science: Meyerson, Brunschvig Bachelard. The emergence of logical positivism: Schlick, Neurath, Reichenbach, Carnap. The reaction to this movement: Popper; Kuhn; Feyerabend, Lakatos, Holton. Actuality of the kantism: Michael Friedmann revisits the synthetic a priori.

Teaching Methods

Seminar sessions with critic presentation and discussion of texts will be given. Students should acquire a global perspective during the lectures and by reading the general works. According with their personal interest they must read some reference works. Students must present two essays on specific topics contained on the syllabus.