PHILOSOPHIES OF SCIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
There is no prerequisite
The only oral oral final check is planned during which the following will be evaluated:
- the ability to properly understand the reading of a text;
- adequate knowledge of examination texts;
- the ability to develop one's own independent critical reflection.
In the course of the oral interview, the acquisition and correct understanding of the contents of the mandatory texts is to be ascertained and studied in full. Specific questions (at least two) will be asked about the contents of the examination texts, which will cover an assessment of the ability of interdisciplinary critical analysis and autonomy of judgment.
In addition, knowledge of the topics covered in the books of your choice (at least one question) will be required.
The final vote will take into account the accuracy and quality of the responses (70%), as well as the communication skills shown during the interview (10%) and the ability to adequately justify claims, analyses and judgments (20%).
Learning outcomes include
- knowledge of the conceptual notion of scientific philosophy
- ability to read a text critically, inserting it within its precise theoretical context
- ability to explain the different traditions of thought present within a given theoretical proposal
- ability to grasp the open problems of the texts studied
- ability to apply the acquired knowledge independently, in order to initiate a self-contained critical reflection on the open problems of the contemporary
Course content
The course will deal with the theme Pragmatism, abduction and history and, specifically, will analyse the following privileged references: the epistemological reflection elaborated by Charles Sanders Peirce in his classic studies The Fixation of Belief; How to Make Our Ideas Clear; What Pragmatism is?; History and Abduction all present in Peirce's volume, Opera, edited by Massimo A. Bonfantini. The study of Peirce's thought should be supplemented with the volume by Fabio Minazzi, Historical-evolutionary epistemology and neo-realism in order to clarify the following conceptual points the relationship between appearance and reality; pragmatism and abduction; the existence of matter and the nature of matter; idealism; empiricism; induction; a priori knowledge; the problem of universals; intuition; the relationship between truth and falsehood; the limits of scientific knowledge and the value of epistemological reflection; the relationship between science/philosophy; the role of logical inferences; the role of reason as a privileged instrument for constructing critical reflection.
There will also be interdisciplinary seminars in 'crossover' mode (i.e. with the presence of other lecturers from the degree course or external guests) in which certain topics covered in class will be explored in depth through different interpretations. Finally, two external trips will be organised: one to CERN in Geneva and one to Valveddasca in collaboration with the History of Science and Philosophy of the Present.
The training objectives of the course will be achieved through the mode of face-to-face lectures (for a total of 56 hours) involving analytical and collective discussion of the directly referenced texts (a 16-hour seminar workshop will be specifically dedicated to History and Abduction).
Reference texts
Mandatory reference texts:
- Charles Sanders Peirce, Opere, a cura di Massimo A. Bonfantini, Bompiani, Milano 2003, pp. 353-414 e pp. 447-538
- F. Minazzi L’epistemologia storico-evolutiva e il neo-realismo logico, Leo S. Olschki, Firenze 2021.
Introductory text
- Rossella Fabbrichesi Leo, Introduzione a Peirce, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1993 (più volte ristampato)
One book of your choice from the following:
- Carlo Sini, Il pragmatismo americano, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1971
- Massimo A. Bonfantini, La semiosi e l’abduzione, Bompiani, Milano 2004;
- Massimo A. Bonfantini, Su Peirce. Interpretazioni, ricerche, prospettive, Bompiani, Milano 2005
- Massimo A. Bonfantini, Il materialismo storico pragmaticista, Atì Editore, Rho (Milano) 2014
- Umberto Eco – Thomas Albert Sebeok, Il segno dei tre. Holmes, Dupin e Peirce, Bompiani,. Milano 2000
- Rossella Fabbrichesi Leo, Sulle tracce del segno. Semiotica, faneroscopia e cosmologia nel pensiero di Charles Sanders Peirce, La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1986
- Giovanni Maddalena, Metafisica per assurdo. Peirce e i problemi dell'epistemologia contemporanea, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2009
- Emanuele Fadda, Peirce, Carocci, Roma 2013
- Armando Fumagalli, Il reale nel linguaggio. Indicalità e realismo nella semiotica di Peirce, Vita & Pensiero, Milano 1995
- Timpanaro, Sul materialismo, Nistri-Lischi, Pisa 19752, terza edizione riveduta ed ampliata, presso le Edizioni Unicopli, Milano 1997.
- L. Geymonat, Scienza e realismo, Feltrinelli, Milano 1977, II ed., riveduta e ampliata, ivi 1982
- L. Geymonat, Del marxismo. Saggi sulla scienza e il materialismo dialettico, a cura di Mario Quaranta, Bertani Editore, Verona 1987
- Fabio Minazzi, Ludovico Geymonat epistemologo,Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2010