ClassInfo - Spring 2018 Philosophy Classes

Spring 2018 | PHIL 8602 Section 001: Scientific Representation and Explanation (67164)

Instructor(s): Alan Love
Class Component:: Discussion
Credits:: 3 Credits
Grading Basis:: Student Option
Instructor Consent:: No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:: In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:: Regular Academic Session

01/16/2018 - 05/04/2018

Thu 04:00PM - 06:30PM

UMTC, West Bank

Walter W Heller Hall 731
Enrollment Status:: Open (9 of 15 seats filled)

Course Catalog Description:: Contemporary issues concerning representation and explanation of scientific facts.
Class Notes:: A general survey of mechanisms across the sciences, both in terms of how they are represented and what this means for scientific explanation. To offer a mechanistic representation or explanation is in many sciences the sine qua non of inquiry. In some cases, this is contrasted with scientific investigation oriented around identifying laws of nature. The increase of appeals to mechanism is also associated with a historical narrative about how inquiry became "more scientific" over time. However, what is a mechanism? What counts as a mechanistic explanation? Answers to these questions diverge rapidly among scholars both within particular sciences and especially across different sciences. These questions will be approached from a general orientation, looking at mechanisms in the context of laws, causation, and modeling, as well as through the specific lens of individuals sciences, including physics, chemistry, engineering, molecular biology, systems biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, ecology, medicine, neuroscience, cognitive science, and economics.
Class Description:: Student may contact the instructor or department for information.
Textbooks:: https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/67164/1183

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