The seminar traces the past and present of a complex and multifaceted relationship: the relations and debates between philosophical and scientific research. In the seminar we will examine this relationship from a historical and philosophical perspective.
Learning objective
Does philosophy have its own methods and forms of knowledge production or do philosophical positions only develop in exchange with scientific research and findings? In how far is scientific research influenced by philosophical theories? Or does it rather influence philosophical theories? In the seminar we trace the relationship between philosophy of science and epistemology, on the one hand, and the particular historical forms of scientific research, on the other: from philosophers who conducted scientific research (Aristotle, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz) and scientists who became philosophers (Ernst Mach) to debates and collaborations between philosophers and scientists in the 20th century (e.g. Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson, Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers). We will examine the relationship between philosophy and the natural sciences as an entwined history that includes instances of collective pursuit of knowledge as well as instances of conflict. The seminar is aimed at students of natural sciences as well as students of philosophy and the history of sciences.
- sensitivity to questions from epistemology and history of science - ability to reflect and discuss epistemological theories - sensitivity to historical contexts of scientific knowledge and philosophical theories - reading philosophical texts (including texts in English)
Performance assessment
Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course