Phil 460: Philosophy of Science
Fall term 2025
Click here for the Syllabus and for further Information for students
(The most up-to-date reading schedule is below)
(The most up-to-date reading schedule is below)
Some general resources:
Kuhn (1957), The Copernican Revolution, and Kuhn (2012), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Wednesday 24th September. General Introduction.
(No reading)
Monday 29th September. The Scientific Revolution.
Main reading:
Shapin (1996), The Scientific Revolution, §1 "What was known?", pp.15-30
Further reading:
Shapin (1996), The Scientific Revolution, Introduction, pp.1-11, and the entirety of §1
Heilbron (2014), “Was There a Scientific Revolution?”
Cohen (2010), "How Modern Science Came into the World"
In-class presentation 1: Copernicus and Galileo.
Wednesday 1st October. René Descartes (1596-1650).
Main reading:
Descartes (1644), Principles of Philosophy, Part One, §§1-10 (pp.193-196) and Part Two, §§1-25 (pp.223-233)
(These texts are taken from The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol. 1)
Further reading:
Garber (1992), "Descartes' Physics"
Clarke (1992), "Descartes' Philosophy of Science and the Scientific Revolution"
In-class presentation 2: The life and death of Descartes.
Monday 6th October -- *Presentation group meetings*
Wednesday 8th October -- *NO CLASS*
Monday 13th October. Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673).
Main reading:
Boyle (2018), The Well-Ordered Universe, §1 "Order and Regularities", pp.10-23
Further reading:
Boyle (2018), The Well-Ordered Universe, §3 "Vitalist Materialism and Infinite Nature" (especially pp. 64-78)
Walters (2014), Margaret Cavendish: Gender, Science, and Politics, pp.15-18
Detlefsen (2006), "Atomism, Monism, and Causation in the Natural Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish"
In-class presentation 3: Cavendish and the English Civil War.
Wednesday 15th October. Robert Boyle (1627-1691).
Main reading:
Shapin and Schaffer (1985), Leviathan and the Air-Pump, §2, pp.22-24 and pp.36-46
Further reading:
Shapin and Schaffer (1985), Leviathan and the Air-Pump, the entirety of §2
Shapin (1996), The Scientific Revolution, §2 "How was it known?"
Swerdlow (1998), "Galileo's Discoveries with the Telescope and their Evidence for the Copernican Theory"
In-class presentation 4: The microscope and the telescope.
Monday 20th October. Isaac Newton (1643-1727).
Main reading:
Smith (2002), "The Methodology of the Principia", pp.138-152
*Recommended primary material:
Newton (1687), Principia -- "Preface" (to the first edition); Book 1, §11, "Scholium"; Book 3, "Rules of Reasoning"
(These texts are taken from Newton: Philosophical Writings)
Further reading:
Smith (2002), "The Methodology of the Principia" (in its entirety)
Ohnesorge (2022), "How Newton derived the shape of the Earth"
Smith (2014), "Closing the Loop"
In-class presentation 5: The achievements of Christiaan Huygens.
Wednesday 22nd October. Newtonian metaphysics.
Main reading:
Stein (2002), "Newton's Metaphysics", pp.256-266 (the full article is here)
*Recommended primary material:
Newton (before 1685), "De Gravitatione"
Newton (1687), Principia — General Scholium
Newton (1704), Opticks — Query 31
In-class presentation 6: Newton and the English Bill of Rights.
Monday 27th October. The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence.
Main reading:
Huggett (2017), Space from Zeno to Einstein, §8 "Leibniz and Clarke" (the complete book is here)
Further reading:
Pooley (2014), "Space and Time"
Garber (1995), "Leibniz: Physics and Philosophy"
In-class presentation 7: Leibniz and Voltaire.
Wednesday 29th October. Émilie du Châtelet (1706-1749).
Main reading:
Du Châtelet (1740), Foundations of Physics, §4 "On Hypotheses" (a reading guide is also available)
Further reading:
Brading (2023), "Du Châtelet and the Philosophy of Physics"
Brading (2018), "Émilie Du Châtelet and the Problem of Bodies" (in the collection Early Modern Women on Metaphysics)
In-class presentation 8: Émilie du Châtelet and France in the eighteenth century.
Monday 3rd November.
*MIDTERM EXAM* (no new reading)
Click here for the midterm study guide.
Wednesday 5th November. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1843).
Main reading:
Gilbert (2004), "Introduction" to An Essay on the Principle of Population (Malthus 1798)
*Recommended primary material:
Malthus (1798), An Essay on the Principle of Population, §1
In-class presentation 9: Malthus' influence — the good and the bad.
Monday 10th November. Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
Main reading:
Browne (2006), Darwin's Origin of Species, §2 "A theory by which to work", pp.35-49
Further reading:
Browne (2006), Darwin's Origin of Species, "Introduction" and §1 "Beginnings"
In-class presentation 10: Napoleon and the French Empire.
Wednesday 12th November. The Origin of Species.
Main reading:
Darwin (1859), The Origin of Species, §3 "Struggle for Existence", pp.49-62
Further reading:
Sober (2000), Philosophy of Biology, §1 "What is Evolutionary Theory?"
In-class presentation 11: The Voyage of the Beagle.
Monday 17th November. Evolutionary evidence.
Main reading:
Lewens (2007), Darwin, §4 "Evidence", pp.95-112
Further reading:
Lewens (2007), Darwin, §4 in its entirety
In-class presentation 12: Charles Dickens and Victorian England.
Wednesday 19th November. Adaptationism.
Main reading:
Gould and Lewontin (1979), "The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm"
Further reading:
Sober (2000), Philosophy of Biology, §5 "Adaptationism", pp.121-132
Monday 24th November. Biological individuals.
Main reading:
Janzen (1977), "What are dandelions and aphids?"
Clarke (2013), "The multiple realizability of biological individuals", pp.413-418
Further reading:
Clarke (2013), "The multiple realizability of biological individuals", in its entirety
Godfrey-Smith (2013), "Darwinian Individuals"
Wednesday 26th November. Characterizing science.
Oreskes (2019), "Why trust science?", pp.15-64
Other options (for another time):
Maccoby (1990), "Gender and Relationships"
Hacking (1985), "Do we see through a microscope?"
Monday 1st December. *Recap and review*
Click here for the final exam study guide.
Wednesday 3rd December. *FINAL EXAM*
Kuhn (1957), The Copernican Revolution, and Kuhn (2012), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Wednesday 24th September. General Introduction.
(No reading)
Monday 29th September. The Scientific Revolution.
Main reading:
Shapin (1996), The Scientific Revolution, §1 "What was known?", pp.15-30
Further reading:
Shapin (1996), The Scientific Revolution, Introduction, pp.1-11, and the entirety of §1
Heilbron (2014), “Was There a Scientific Revolution?”
Cohen (2010), "How Modern Science Came into the World"
In-class presentation 1: Copernicus and Galileo.
Wednesday 1st October. René Descartes (1596-1650).
Main reading:
Descartes (1644), Principles of Philosophy, Part One, §§1-10 (pp.193-196) and Part Two, §§1-25 (pp.223-233)
(These texts are taken from The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol. 1)
Further reading:
Garber (1992), "Descartes' Physics"
Clarke (1992), "Descartes' Philosophy of Science and the Scientific Revolution"
In-class presentation 2: The life and death of Descartes.
Monday 6th October -- *Presentation group meetings*
Wednesday 8th October -- *NO CLASS*
Monday 13th October. Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673).
Main reading:
Boyle (2018), The Well-Ordered Universe, §1 "Order and Regularities", pp.10-23
Further reading:
Boyle (2018), The Well-Ordered Universe, §3 "Vitalist Materialism and Infinite Nature" (especially pp. 64-78)
Walters (2014), Margaret Cavendish: Gender, Science, and Politics, pp.15-18
Detlefsen (2006), "Atomism, Monism, and Causation in the Natural Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish"
In-class presentation 3: Cavendish and the English Civil War.
Wednesday 15th October. Robert Boyle (1627-1691).
Main reading:
Shapin and Schaffer (1985), Leviathan and the Air-Pump, §2, pp.22-24 and pp.36-46
Further reading:
Shapin and Schaffer (1985), Leviathan and the Air-Pump, the entirety of §2
Shapin (1996), The Scientific Revolution, §2 "How was it known?"
Swerdlow (1998), "Galileo's Discoveries with the Telescope and their Evidence for the Copernican Theory"
In-class presentation 4: The microscope and the telescope.
Monday 20th October. Isaac Newton (1643-1727).
Main reading:
Smith (2002), "The Methodology of the Principia", pp.138-152
*Recommended primary material:
Newton (1687), Principia -- "Preface" (to the first edition); Book 1, §11, "Scholium"; Book 3, "Rules of Reasoning"
(These texts are taken from Newton: Philosophical Writings)
Further reading:
Smith (2002), "The Methodology of the Principia" (in its entirety)
Ohnesorge (2022), "How Newton derived the shape of the Earth"
Smith (2014), "Closing the Loop"
In-class presentation 5: The achievements of Christiaan Huygens.
Wednesday 22nd October. Newtonian metaphysics.
Main reading:
Stein (2002), "Newton's Metaphysics", pp.256-266 (the full article is here)
*Recommended primary material:
Newton (before 1685), "De Gravitatione"
Newton (1687), Principia — General Scholium
Newton (1704), Opticks — Query 31
In-class presentation 6: Newton and the English Bill of Rights.
Monday 27th October. The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence.
Main reading:
Huggett (2017), Space from Zeno to Einstein, §8 "Leibniz and Clarke" (the complete book is here)
Further reading:
Pooley (2014), "Space and Time"
Garber (1995), "Leibniz: Physics and Philosophy"
In-class presentation 7: Leibniz and Voltaire.
Wednesday 29th October. Émilie du Châtelet (1706-1749).
Main reading:
Du Châtelet (1740), Foundations of Physics, §4 "On Hypotheses" (a reading guide is also available)
Further reading:
Brading (2023), "Du Châtelet and the Philosophy of Physics"
Brading (2018), "Émilie Du Châtelet and the Problem of Bodies" (in the collection Early Modern Women on Metaphysics)
In-class presentation 8: Émilie du Châtelet and France in the eighteenth century.
Monday 3rd November.
*MIDTERM EXAM* (no new reading)
Click here for the midterm study guide.
Wednesday 5th November. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1843).
Main reading:
Gilbert (2004), "Introduction" to An Essay on the Principle of Population (Malthus 1798)
*Recommended primary material:
Malthus (1798), An Essay on the Principle of Population, §1
In-class presentation 9: Malthus' influence — the good and the bad.
Monday 10th November. Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
Main reading:
Browne (2006), Darwin's Origin of Species, §2 "A theory by which to work", pp.35-49
Further reading:
Browne (2006), Darwin's Origin of Species, "Introduction" and §1 "Beginnings"
In-class presentation 10: Napoleon and the French Empire.
Wednesday 12th November. The Origin of Species.
Main reading:
Darwin (1859), The Origin of Species, §3 "Struggle for Existence", pp.49-62
Further reading:
Sober (2000), Philosophy of Biology, §1 "What is Evolutionary Theory?"
In-class presentation 11: The Voyage of the Beagle.
Monday 17th November. Evolutionary evidence.
Main reading:
Lewens (2007), Darwin, §4 "Evidence", pp.95-112
Further reading:
Lewens (2007), Darwin, §4 in its entirety
In-class presentation 12: Charles Dickens and Victorian England.
Wednesday 19th November. Adaptationism.
Main reading:
Gould and Lewontin (1979), "The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm"
Further reading:
Sober (2000), Philosophy of Biology, §5 "Adaptationism", pp.121-132
Monday 24th November. Biological individuals.
Main reading:
Janzen (1977), "What are dandelions and aphids?"
Clarke (2013), "The multiple realizability of biological individuals", pp.413-418
Further reading:
Clarke (2013), "The multiple realizability of biological individuals", in its entirety
Godfrey-Smith (2013), "Darwinian Individuals"
Wednesday 26th November. Characterizing science.
Oreskes (2019), "Why trust science?", pp.15-64
Other options (for another time):
Maccoby (1990), "Gender and Relationships"
Hacking (1985), "Do we see through a microscope?"
Monday 1st December. *Recap and review*
Click here for the final exam study guide.
Wednesday 3rd December. *FINAL EXAM*