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2024　Philosophy of Science A

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Academic unit or major
Humanities and social science courses
Instructor(s)
Tagoyama Wakako 
Class Format
Lecture     
Media-enhanced courses
Day/Period(Room No.)
-
Group
-
Course number
LAH.T106
Credits
1
Academic year
2024
Offered quarter
4Q
Syllabus updated
2024/3/14
Lecture notes updated
-
Language used
Japanese
Access Index

Course description and aims

・This course focuses on various methodologies of science in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, from the point of view of the history of science and ideas, including the history of Christianity & the history of philosophy.
・This course covers key concepts or themes of modern science (the laws of nature, the relation between experiment and experience, empiricism, time and space, premodern Christianity etc.), and it gives an overview of cultural/historical background of the relation between science and religion.

Student learning outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) understand these concepts of premodern scientific methodologies aforementioned,
2) explain their common cultural and historical background.

Keywords

History of science and ideas, laws of nature, experience, experiment, empiricism, early modern science, the Protestant Reformation, the relationship between science and religion

Competencies that will be developed

✔ Specialist skills ✔ Intercultural skills Communication skills ✔ Critical thinking skills Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

In the last 20-30 minutes of each class, students should summarize topics of the class on attendant papers. If they have time, they can add their opinions or questions there.

Course schedule/Required learning

  Course schedule Required learning
Class 1 Introduction: current research on the relationship between premodern science and religion understand the meaning of learning premodern natural science in the context of Christianity.
Class 2 The concept of laws of nature in the 17th century understand the source of the concept of 'laws of nature' which appeared in the 17th century as a central methodological role in the premodern natural science.
Class 3 What is ‘experiment’? understand the concept of premodern 'experiment' and 'discovery' from the concept of empiricism.
Class 4 Mechanical Naturalism in the premodern natural science understand the idea of Mechanical naturalism which was one of facets of the concept of experience in the premodern natural science.
Class 5 Empiricism and Protestantism understand British empiricism from the standpoint of Christianity.
Class 6 time and space understand various theories about space and time, especially comparing Newton and Leibniz.
Class 7 conclusion understand the theme of this course, and prepare term papers.

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to course materials.

Textbook(s)

none required

Reference books, course materials, etc.

course materials will be posted on T2SCHOLA in advance.

Assessment criteria and methods

Student's course scores are based on term papers (80%) and exercises (submission of papers) (20%). Term papers must be handed or submitted online to the instructor after the final class is over. Full attendance is compulsory. The instructor may fail examinee if he/she repeatedly is absent from class or comes to delay in submission.

Related courses

  • LAH.T102 ： History of Science A
  • LAH.T202 ： History of Science B
  • LAH.T302 ： History of Science C

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

non prerequisites

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