Methods in History and Philosophy of Science 

Description

In 1959, Norwood Hanson famously claimed that the history of science without the philosophy of science is blind, whereas philosophy of science without a history of science is empty. Ever since, there have been both institutional and intellectual attempts to integrate the historical and philosophical inquiries/studies of science. These attempts have generated different, sometimes conflicting methodological approaches to conceptualize episodes from the history of science and their philosophical significance.

One important methodological conflict in this tradition of contact between history and philosophy of science pertains to the status of historical cases: should they be understood as evidence for general accounts of scientific inquiry, as tests for normative ideals for science, or as avenues to explore the diversity and complexity of specific scientific practices? In this course, we provide an in-depth introduction to both historical and contemporary methodologies in HPS, discussing the work of Norwood Hanson, Larry Laudan, Ian Hacking, Jutta Schickore, Hasok Chang and Lorraine Daston.

Special guest speakers are Jutta Schickore (on the 4th of April) and Hasok Chang (on the 9th of May).

The course aims to introduce students to a diversity of methodological approaches that use the history of science as an avenue to advance our understanding of what science is. At the end of the course students will have the ability to:

  1. apply these different approaches to specific episodes in the history of science;
  2. critically compare and evaluate these applications.

Please note: The format of the course will be hybrid. Nonetheless, in order to encourage in-person attendance, lectures and seminars (Part I and Part II) take place on the same day. When applicable, we will have a lecture in the morning and a seminar in the afternoon, with the opportunity to share lunch together.

Practical information

Primary target group PhD researchers and ReMA students working in history and/or philosophy of science
If places available also open to Postdocs
Type of activity Seminar
Certificate credit points 4 EC
Organizer
Location
Date March 7, 2025 @ 10:30
Venue Tilburg University, Room TBC

Program

This is a tentative program. Some dates may still change – the final program will be determined in late November.

The course is articulated in 2 parts:

  • Classes: Reading and critical discussion of six different approaches to HPS (6 weeks)
  • Seminars: Student presentations on cases/examples of HPS methods (4 weeks)

Friday March 7

  • 10:30-12:00 Class: Introduction (Claudia Cristalli) + Qualitative Methods: Archives and Interviews (Fons Dewulf)
  • 13:00-14:30 Seminar: no

Friday March 21

  • 10:30-12:00 Class: French Historical Epistemology (Ties van Gemert)
  • 13:00-14:30 Seminar: yes

Friday April 4

  • 10:30-12:00 Class: Contemporary HPS: title tbc (Jutta Schickore)
  • 13:00-14:30 Seminar: yes

Friday April 11

  • 10:30-12:00 Class: Quantitative methods in HPS (Sander Verhaegh, Gregor Bös)
  • 13:00-14:30 Seminar: yes

Friday April 25

  • 10:30-12:00 Class: Reconstructing experiments from the past (Claudia Cristalli)
  • 13:00-14:30 Seminar: yes

Friday May 9

  • 10:30-12:00 Class: Contemporary HPS: title tbc (Hasok Chang)
  • 13:00-14:30 Seminar: tbc

Preparation and assessment

Costs and registration

Costs:

  • Free for ReMA students who are a member of the OZSW and/or another research school in the Humanities (LOGOS)
  • Free for PhD candidates who are a member of the OZSW and/or another research school in the Humanites (LOGOS);
  • All others pay a tuition fee of 300 euros.

How to register:

Registration will open in November.

The registration deadline is January 30, 2025. If registration has been closed because the maximum amount of participants has been reached, you can submit your name to the waiting list by sending an email to . Please also indicate whether you are a ReMA student or PhD candidate and whether you are a member of the OZSW or not.

The OZSW registration and cancellation policy applies to this activity (to be found here).

Contact information

Organizer not found.