According to a common view of science,
knowledge accumulates under the guidance of an agreed-upon "scientific
method." According to an alternative model, science is sometimes subject
to revolutionary changes in which the rules of the game and hat counts
as relevant evidence change along with our scientific theories.
This course
focuses on alleged episodes of revolutionary scientific change. We begin
with the Copernican revolution of the 17th century. In light of this example,
we will study Thomas Kuhn's celebrated work The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions. Using Kuhn's account as a guide,
we might also consider other, allegedly
revolutionary episodes, including the Darwinian revolution and the alleged
chaos revolution in the 1970s.
In addition to Kuhn, we will read passages
from Aristotle, Galilei, and contemporary philosophers of science.
© Dirk Schlimm, Last modified: 5/2/02