Course syllabus

Welcome to PHIL749: Philosophy of Science I: Modelling, Representation, and Inference in Science

Here is the course outline.

Meeting Times: Wednesdays 11am–1pm in Building 201E (Social Sciences), Room 306

Course Coordinator: Dr Emily Parke
Email: e.parke@auckland.ac.nz 
Office hours: Wednesdays 2pm–4pm, or other times by appointment
Office: Room 427, Building 206 (Humanities)

Course Description:

What makes a series of mathematical equations a good stand-in for the global climate, or a laboratory mouse a good stand-in for a cancer patient? How do scientists get to make inferences about broad classes of systems or phenomena in the natural world, by studying representations or representatives of those classes in their laboratories or on their computer screens? What is representation anyway, and is scientific representation special? This course will examine these and other questions about scientific representation, modelling, and inference. We will discuss a range of topics such as how models represent the world, how scientific representation works in general, the relationship between different kinds of models (e.g., mathematical, computational and physical) and the debate about whether or not experiments are superior to models as sources of scientific knowledge. No particular background in science or modelling is required or expected.

In addition to engaging with the above topics through reading about and discussing them, there are some particular objectives for this course. First, you will gain experience in presenting on and leading discussions about complex topics, including topics which are outside of your familiar areas of research or expertise. Second, you will gain experience in preparing a paper for submission to a peer-reviewed international conference.

Overview of Topics:

See "Reading Lists" in the left sidebar for links to electronic versions of readings. "Essential Readings" (at the top of the list for each week) are the assigned readings you must read before class each week. "Further Readings" are suggested (but not required) further background reading for each weekly topic.

Week 1 (26/07): No Class

Week 2 (02/08): Introduction to Modelling

Week 3 (09/08): Models and Fictions

Week 4 (16/08): Idealisation and Abstraction I

Week 5 (23/08): Idealisation and Abstraction II

Week 6 (30/08): Similarity

[MID-SEMESTER BREAK]

Week 7 (20/09): Representation

Week 8 (27/09): Extrapolation and External Validity

Week 9 (04/10): Computer Simulation

Week 10 (11/10): Simulations/Models Versus Experiments

Week 11 (18/10): Model Organisms

Week 12 (25/10): Course Wrap-Up, Essay Discussion and Peer Review

Other Details:

• This is a discussion based course. Everyone will be expected to come to class having done the assigned reading at least once, and prepared to discuss it. In addition, everyone will take turns leading the class discussion. 
• There is no textbook; all assigned readings will be available electronically through Canvas > Reading Lists. 
• Assessment is based on the following assignments:
• 85% 5000-word Essay: You are expected to meet with me throughout the semester to develop an original essay topic based on the course material. Essays will be prepared for submission to the 2018 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association (submissions are due 01 March 2018, and while I cannot force you all to actually submit your essay to the conference, I will strongly encourage you to).
  • Here's the PSA 2018 call for papers, with details on structure, formatting, etc.
• 15% Presentations: Students will be responsible for leading the class discussion at least twice during the semester. This entails preparing a presentation outlining key points from the relevant reading(s) and guiding our group's discussion with questions and other points of interest. It does NOT mean that you must become an expert in the relevant week's topic, or have all the answers to questions about it. Further details of presentations will be discussed in the first weeks of class. The "deadline" below is arbitrarily set as the last class meeting; presentations will occur throughout the semester beginning in week 3 or 4.

Here is a link to the schedule of presentations for the semester.

Resources:

• Authoritative, up-to-date entires on important philosophical topics, figures, and concepts: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Both are excellent and will be helpful in further background reading for weekly topics and final essays; the SEP entries tend to go more in-depth and the IEP entries tend to be more generally accessible.
• An excellent overview of how to write, read, and do philosophy: Helena De Bres's The Pink Guide to Philosophy
• More helpful guides to reading and writing philosophy: Jim Pryor's Guidelines on Reading Philosophy and Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper
• Kyle Stanford's The Seven Deadly Sins of Argumentative Writing