Science and Development

Objectives

At the end of the semester, the student should be able to:
1) understand the fundamental concepts of science;
2) adopt a critical stance on the epistemological problems that are present in the syllabus;
3) assess critically (in the light of the knowledge obtained during the semester) the results of the scientific work;
4) distinguish between science, pseudoscience and bad science;
5) evaluate the role of values in science and the social responsibility of the scientist

Program

1- Fundamental concepts of philosophy of science: scientific reasoning; laws of nature; models and types of scientific explanation.
2- Inductivism (Mill and logical positivism) and its critics (Popper, Kuhn e Feyera-bend).
3- The problem of pseudoscience and its social relevance.
4- The problem of values in science: the fact/value dichotomy; the thesis of the axiolog-ical neutrality of science; the role of values in science.
5- Science and public policy: the social and moral responsibility of the scientist.
6- The problem of the existence of psychological and social laws.
7- The phenomenological and hermeneutic perspective on science: science and lifeworld in Husserl’s
phenomenology; the hermeneutic conception of science (Heidegger and Gadamer).
8- Social science and social critique in Habermas and Bourdieu.
9- Critical thinking and scientific education

Teaching Methodologies

The seminar sessions begin with a lecture by the teacher, followed by a collective discussion of the session’s subject.
The following learning activities play a major role:

- to read the recommended bibliography;
- to discuss the taught subjects;
- analysis of fundamental texts;
- personal supervision of the student’s work.

The evaluation will be made on the basis of the presentation of a research paper, with an extension of 12-15 pages.
Before handing the paper in, the student should present it orally and debate it in a special seminar session.

Bibliography

- Davidson, D., Essays on Actions and Events, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1980.
- Douglas, H., Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal, University of Pittsburg Press, 2009.
- Husserl, E., La crise des sciences européennes et la phénoménologie transcendentale, Paris, Gallimard, 1976.
- Hansson, S., “Science and Pseudo Science”. In: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stan-ford, CA, Stanford University, 2009. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pseudo-science/).
- Kuhn, T., A estrutura das revoluções científicas, São Paulo, Ed. Perspectiva, 1991.
- Machamer, P. and Silberstein, M., The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Science, Ox-ford, Blackwell.
- Papineau, D., The Philosophy of Science, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997.
- Popper, K., Conjectures and Refutations, London, Routledge, 1972.
- Weber, M. Sobre a Teoria das Ciências Sociais, Lisboa, Ed. Presença, 1977.