History and Philosophy of Scientific Methodology

Course content

In this specialized course, students will be familiarized with the history and philosophy of scientific methodologies. Science, as will be shown throughout the course, comprises more than its empirical and theoretical dimensions. Scientific thought and practice also contain a methodological dimension that, considered retrospectively, codifies how we have learned to learn about the empirical world. Methodological practices and views have a history of their own and it is this history that will occupy centre-stage in this course. The focus of this course will be on the methodological developments within seventeenth- to mid-nineteenth-century physics. The methodological practices and views of  the following figures (amongst others) will be addressed: Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, J. B. van Helmont, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, John S. Mill and William Whewell. Particular attention will be devoted to Newton's sophisticated Principia-style methodology. In this course it will be explained that there is no such thing as a universally applicable scientific method, but instead a plethora of different methodological instruments that each have their own strengths and limitations.

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

The student is able to provide a comprehensive overview of long-term shifts within seventeenth- to nineteenth-century scientific methodology.
The student is able to explain the methodological views and/or practices of the figures addressed in the reader in a detailed way and to compare them insightfully.
The student can identify (the significance of) Newton's Principia-style methodology and critically evaluate how it differs from a standard hypothetico-deductive approach.
The student is able to illustrate how certain branches of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century physics were predicated on Newton's Principia-style methodology.
The student is able to clarify the 'inductive' methodologies of John S. Mill and William Whewell and to provide a detailed overview of their differences.

Teaching methods and learning activities

20 contact hours Lecture
13 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
125 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Digital course material (Required) : Reader
Reader that contains state-of-the-art literature and historical case-studies. The reader and slides are available via CANVAS at the start of the course.
The parts on Newton's methodology are based on Steffen Ducheyne, "The main Business of Natural Philosophy": Isaac Newton's Natural-Philosophical Methodology (Dordrecht, Springer: 2012). Students do NOT need to purchase this book, as it is available in both material form (class mark: 141.1 N NEWT DUCH 2012; URL=<https://biblio.vub.ac.be/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=search&p=f88fe9ec-2425-11e7-a7e4-90084dd7a2c4#recordId=3.470380&srchDb=3_UB01>) and electronic form in the university library (URL=<https://biblio.vub.ac.be/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=search&p=f88fe9ec-2425-11e7-a7e4-90084dd7a2c4#recordId=3.488616&srchDb=3_UB01>).

Course notes

Université virtuelle

Other information

Additional information

Hors Campus ULB

Tout cours suivi à la VUB doit impérativement faire l’objet d’une inscription en ligne par l’étudiant auprès de la VUB.
Toutes les informations pratiques sont disponibles via ce lien :https://www.ulb-vub.be/fr/enseignement/echanges-de-cours-ou-de-modules.

Campus

Other campus

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

Oral examination

Oral examination

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Oral exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Note: The oral exam with written preparation determines 100% of the grades.

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Language(s) of evaluation

english