HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Academic Year of enrolment:

2018/2019

Type of Course:

Elective Course

Degree:

Master's Degree Programme in HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES

Disciplinary Sector:

LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Language:

Italian

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

MURA Alberto Mario

Hours of classroom activity:

Prerequisites:

General knowledge at the level of the three-year degrees required for admission to the course of study.

AF code:

A002106

Assessment Methods

Verification of learning:

Oral examination.

Teaching period

First semester

Objectives

The physical conception of space with respect to time, from Aristotle to Einstein.

Acquisition of skills, abilities and knowledge on the philosophy of physics and its impact on the philosophy of science.

Development of the ability to understand philosophical problems in general and those developed in the course in particular.

Development of critical and argumentative skills as well as the elaboration of original ideas.

Ability to apply the knowledge acquired for solving problems, especially in historiographical and philosophical, in harmony with the general objectives of the course of study.

Acquisition of lexical skills in the field of scientific historiography and philosophy of science.

Development of the ability to communicate and argue in a clear and coherent manner also with a non-specialist audience. Development of the capacity for rational discussion and effective defence of one's thesis, without losing the critical ability to review one's thesis in the light of cogent arguments.

be put in a position to deepen the issues, having acquired specific and transversal skills to learn new concepts and to apply them correctly.

Contents

The notions of necessity (νάγκη) and case (τύχη) in the Greek tradition. The relationship between these two notions that are not opposed.

Need and case in Democritus.

The Platonic conception of chance.

The case in the Physics (II, iv-vi) of Aristotle. τατόματον and τύχη.

The Aristotelian conception of necessity within the framework of its metaphysics.

Determinism and freedom in Stoic philosophy.

Case and laws of nature in Epicureanism, especially in De Rerum Natura di Lucrezio.

Boethius.

Late medieval views of chance and determination.

The scientific revolution. The laws of nature and mechanism.

The Newtonian paradigm. Laplace.

The emergence of probability.

Thermodynamics and irreversible phenomena.

The kinetic theory of gases and statistical mechanics.

Boltzmann and the statistical notion of entropy. Phase space and Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.

The problems of statistical mechanics. The theorems of Poincaré and Zermelo. Ergodicity.

Indeterminism in Quantum Mechanics. The Schrödinger equation. Bohm's theory and other epistemic interpretations. Ontic Probability.

The case in Biology. Monod and the relationships between chance and coincidences. The role of chance in biological evolution.

Recommended Bibliography

Study material provided by the teacher.

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

Conventional lectures.
Proseminars by students (in turn) with an exposition of the examination texts and critical discussion by the students.

Contacts/More Information

Attendance is strongly recommended. Students who could not attend the course of severe reasons must ask the teacher individually what texts they have to study in preparation for the exam.

HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT

Course year: 1

Course year: 2

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HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT