Fall 2021  |  PHIL 8670 Section 001: Seminar: Philosophy of Science (34325)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Repeat Credit Limit:
6 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
Instructor Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/07/2021 - 12/15/2021
Tue 04:00PM - 06:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Walter W Heller Hall 731
Enrollment Status:
Open (5 of 26 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Topics vary by offering. prereq: instr consent
Class Notes:
This seminar will be on reproducibility and replication in science. Drawing from sources in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, we will investigate questions such as: Why, or under what circumstances, is the replication of an experiment or the reproducibility of its result important in science? What scientific role do these concepts play? How are they defined? Then we will turn to a contemporary malaise, sometimes called the "replication" or "reproducibility crisis," afflicting especially parts of the psychological and biomedical sciences (and perhaps beyond) over the past decade. We will discuss, for instance: What, exactly, is this crisis? Is it a real problem for science? How can we measure its extent? Are its causes to be found among the statistical methods commonly used? Or in the incentives within science towards fraud, questionable research practices, and publication and other biases? And, how might we intervene on these causes or otherwise act to resolve the crisis? This part will also draw on scholarship by scientists working in the fields affected by the crisis and the community self-identifying as "meta-scientists," who apply tools from statistics and the social sciences to study scientific institutions.
Class Description:
This seminar will focus on the historical, mathematical, philosophical, and scientific interconnections between theories of computation and theories of physical phenomena. It will be guided topically by the chapters in the recently published volume, Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics (Cambridge University Press, 2018). These are divided into four parts:
I. The Computability of Physical Systems and Physical Systems as Computers. Topics include pancomputationalism and variations on the Church-Turing thesis, including historical aspects thereof.
II. The Implementation of Computation in Physical Systems. Topics include explanations of the power of quantum computing, the physics of information, and accounts of physical computational implementation, including in biological systems.
III. Physical Perspectives on Computer Science. Topics include intermediate Turing degrees, how physics has motivated the problems of scientific computing, and the implications of general relativity for theories of computation.
IV. Computational Perspectives on Physical Theory. Topics include the thermodynamics of computation, Landauer's principle, Maxwell's demon, and information-theoretical reconstructions of quantum theory.
Who Should Take This Class?:
Graduate students interested in any of these interdisciplinary topics. Although they vary widely, students with particular interests among the seminar topics are still encouraged to attend. We will focus on building a seminar community that encourages each of us to learn from the strengths of others.
Grading:
First, everyone in the course will lead discussion for one or more of the seminar meetings. That can include creating a slide presentation, or a handout, or can even be done on the whiteboard. The goal is to guide everyone through the important ideas of the readings, raising questions, etc.

Second, students taking the course for a letter grade must submit a 15-25 page term paper developing a novel argument on a topic derived from the course material.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/34325/1219
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
6 November 2018

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