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Instructors: Prof. Dr. Daniel Geiger; Lisa Harborth; Iris Seidemann
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
Intro. Phil. Science
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 32
Comments/contents:
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of scientific research. What does research actually mean, what is its ultimate aim, which role do methods play in doing research and how can scientific knowledge generation be differentiated from other forms of knowledge and even ‘fake news’? In today’s world, scientific knowledge is increasingly becoming scrutinized and called into question. Science seems to have lost its status of making truth claims in and for society. At the same time, scientific knowledge is becoming even more important to tackle today’s challenges such as climate change. The call “follow the science” is getting popularized and modern societies seems to increasingly depend on the research.
In this course we want to jointly develop an understanding of what scientific knowledge actually means, how it is generated and problematized. Doing so requires to explore some of the philosophical underpinnings of scientific knowledge and the debate around what truth is and how it can actually be achieved. These questions are discussed in the discipline of “philosophy of science”, a research area that deals with the status of truth in science and society. We will also discuss the implications of this for our scientific methods and why methods are important for making truth claims in science. Overall, this seminar shall provide students with the basic underpinnings of doing research and how research methods help in better understanding the challenges of today’s world. Furthermore, we will reflect on the status of research in society more broadly.
Didactic concept:
The seminar will be held bi-weekly and discuss one or two core papers per session.
In each of the sessions we will jointly discuss core publications that are fundamental in the area of philosophy of science and methods. Each paper will be discussed on the basis of guiding questions for the subsequent discussion.
Additional examination information:
Students are expected to write a portfolio of three short essays (as group work):
- Summarize one paper: 1500 words and hand-in 2 days prior to class
- Respond to the discussion questions of one paper: 1000 words and hand-in 2 days prior to class
- Summarize one discussion in class: 1000 words and hand in 3 days after class
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