Unit name | History of Science |
---|---|
Unit code | PHILM0007 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Tho |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Philosophy |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces students to the discipline of the history of science by exploring contemporary debates surrounding the epistemological status of historical disciplines, the proper object of historiography and new
methodologies in the field. In recent years, new research in the history of the philosophy of science as well as expanded fields in science and technology studies has led to a renewed look at what it means to do the history of science and how historical claims should be philosophically understood. This unit provides the opportunity for masters (and advanced students) to examine contemporary work surrounding new methods (sociological, cultural, experimental, data-driven) in the history of science and revisit the debates between historicism-realism, externalism-internalism, continuist-discontinuist, and others. Alongside philosophical evaluations of the claims of historians of science, a number of test cases, drawn from the 17th and 18th century, will be examined.
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
Lectures, small group work, individual exercises, seminars and virtual learning environment.
All assessment is summative: Digital collaborative presentation (20%) designed to testr ILOs 1-5 + One essay of 5,000 words (80%) designed to test ILOs 1-4