Seminar in History and Philosophy of Science

Core Courses

• HPSC-X 506 Survey of History of Science up to 1750 (3 cr.) Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment science. 

• HPSC-X 507 Survey of History of Science since 1750 (3 cr.) Growth of physical, biological, and social sciences during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Attention will be paid not only to the scientific contents but to the institutional and social context.

• HPSC-X 551 Survey of the Philosophy of Science (3 cr.) Science claims to tell us what the world is like, even the part of the world we cannot see, and to explain why things happen the way they do. But these claims are controversial. Examination of competing models of scientific explanation and the ongoing debate over whether scientific theories should or even can be interpreted realistically. 

• HPSC-X 552 Modern Philosophy of Science (3 cr.) Origin and charac­ter of twentieth-century philosophy of science. Examination of the historical development of the philosophy of science-in interaction with parallel developments within the sciences themselves-from 1800 to the early twentieth century. 

• HPSC-X 556 History and Philosophy of Premodern Science (3 cr.) Historical survey of philosophical discussions of the nature of science, in the premodern period.

• HPSC-X 501 Professional Development Seminar (0.5 cr.)

• HPSC-X 733 Colloquium Credit (0.5 cr.) Research presentations by invited guests of the HPSC department, both from IU and from other institutions.

Seminars in History of Science

• HPSC-X 601 Special Topics in Ancient Science (3 cr.) P: X506 or consent of instructor. The course deals with specific areas in science, philosophy, and technology within the chronological period stretching from 500 BCE to 500 CE. The focus will be texts, and in some instances, Latin or Greek may be required.

• HPSC-X 602 Special Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Science (3 cr.) P: X506 or consent of instructor. The chronological scope of this course is roughly 500 to 1600 CE. Topics range over a broad spectrum, from the history of medieval and early modern technology to the emergence and development of the concept of natural magic. 

• HPSC-X 603 Special Topics in Early Modern Science (3 cr.) P: X506 or consent of instructor. Course will deal with topics in the his­tory of science and culture primarily during the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Courses in History and Philosophy of Science

• HPSC-X 521 Research Topics in the History and Philosophy of Science (3 cr.) Historical investigation of science to deepen under­standing of issues arising in the philosophy of science, and application of philosophy of science to illuminate topics in the history of science. Focus may be on substantive historical and philosophical issues arising in a specific science (or cluster of related sciences), or on general methodological issues concern­ing the relationship between history of science and philosophy of science.

• HPSC-X 706 Special Topics in the History and Philosophy of Science (3 cr.) Content and instructors will vary; students may thus re­ceive credit more than once. Admission by consent of instruc­tor or chairperson.

• HPSC-X 687 Seminar: Philosophical Problems of Chaos Theory (3 cr.) Philosophical examination of nonlinear dynamics and chaotic phenomena.  Topics include: modeling, unpredictability and determinism, free will and chaos in psychology, implications for historical and social sciences, information and complexity.

• HPSC-X 790 Space, Time and Relativity of Theory (3 cr.) Topics in the philosophy of space, time, and space-time. Theory of motion and Zeno’s paradoxes; St. Augustine on time; time and becom­ing; relational versus absolute theories of space and time; Mach’s principle; introduction to Einstein’s theory of relativity and space-time.

• HPSC-X 791 Philosophical Issues in Quantum Theory (3 cr.) Exami­nation of philosophical problems and challenges raised by quantum theory, with topics including Heisenberg uncertainty relations, nonlocality and EPR paradox, hidden variables, interpretations of quantum theory. No previous knowledge of quantum theory assumed.

History and Philosophy of the Social and Behavioral Sciences

• HPSC-X 682 Inductive Logic and Probability (3 cr.) Topics in inductive logic such as Hume’s problem of induction, Hempel’s paradox of confirmation (The Raven paradox), Goodman’s new riddle of induction, and Bayesian confirmation theory. Analyses of concepts of probability, such as classical, propensity, frequency, and subjective (e.g., Bayesian) interpretations.

• HPSC-X 756 Special Topics in the Philosophy of Science (2-5 cr.) Content and instructors will vary; students may thus receive credit more than once. Admission by consent of instructor or chairperson.

• HPSC-X 795 Minds, Brains, and Computers (3 cr.) Philosophical issues in computer and cognitive science.  Programming experience for beginners (in Mathematica).  Turing machines and computa­tion; computational theories of intelligence, consciousness, and vision; cellular automata and the behavior of complex sys­tems; chaos theory and fractals; problem solving, search, and two-person games; knowledge representation and computer reasoning.

Courses in Philosophy of Science

• HPSC-X 690 Philosophical Issues in the Physical and Chemical Sciences (3 cr.) Topics in the philosophy of the physical and chemical sciences; topics may include space, time, and space-time, substances and elements, atomism, chemical explanations.

• HPSC-X 693 Philosophical Issues in the Medical and Life Sciences (3 cr.) Survey of important concepts in the biological and medical sciences from antiquity to the present. A familiarity with biology or medicine is helpful but not necessary.  

• HPSC-X 755 Topics in the Philosophy of Science (3 cr.) Content and instructors will vary; students may thus receive credit more than once. 

• HPSC-X 508 History of Biology (3 cr.) P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Survey of the most important developments in biology from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Examina­tion of such topics as changes in evolution theory, concepts of development and inheritance, instruments and the rise of the laboratory, and physiology.

Courses in History of Science

• HPSC-X 609 History of the Physical and Chemical Sciences (3 cr.) Advanced and intensive study of selected topics in the history of the physical and chemical sciences. To include topics not ordinarily covered by existing survey courses in history of science.  

• HPSC-X 632 History of Medical and Life Sciences (3 cr.) Historical development of the theory and practice of medicine, biology, and related sciences. Content will vary.  

• HPSC-X 642 History of the Social and Human Sciences (3 cr.) Explores the scientific, professional, and cultural dimensions of modern social and human sciences, including its emergence as an academic discipline in the late 19th century. Focus on interpretive issues raised by recent scholarship.  

• HPSC-X 705 Topics in the History of Science (3 cr.) Content and instructors will vary; students may thus receive credit more than once.

• HPSC-X 654 Seminar: Philosophy of the Social Sciences (4 cr.) P: X552 or consent of instructor. Examination of such topics as objectivity, generality, social laws, role of values in social inquiry, methodological individualism, and relation of the social sciences to psychology, operationism, behaviorism, and other reductivist proposals.

Science in Cultural Contexts

• HPSC-X 301 Growth of Scientific Establishment (3 cr.) Please note: This course is not currently being offered. 

• HPSC-X 645 History of American Science (3 cr.) An historical explora­tion of the intellectual and institutional development of science in the United States from colonial times to the present. Exam­ines recent scholarship in the history of American science and related historiographical trends and issues. 

• HPSC-X 670 Science and Gender (3 cr.) The role of science and technology in constructions of masculinity and femininity from 1600 to present. Historical and philosophical analysis of the interaction between science and technology and ideologies of gender. Evaluation of proposals for transforming science.

• HPSC-X 671 Topics in the Science of Sex and Gender (3 cr.) P: May vary with topic. Possible topics include history of theories of sexuality, critique of current scientific concepts of sex and gen­der, philosophical perspectives on sexology, and the history of theories of sex evolution and determination. May be repeated twice for credit with different topic.