Autumn Term 2005-6
Lectures: Prof. Steve Fuller (s.w.fuller@warwick.ac.uk) M 1-2 (R
115)
Seminars: Nigel Christian (nigeldchristian@yahoo.co.uk) M
2-3, 4-5 (A005)
This
module will consider the role of authoritative knowledge in society: How do
people decide what to believe and, more crucially, what is
worth having beliefs about? How do these decisions interact with other concerns
about how people allocate time and resources? These questions, while always important,
have taken on an added significance as more specialised
forms of knowledge, or ‘expertise’, have come to influence public policymaking
in areas of health, security, welfare and education. In the classical
sociological tradition, these issues have been associated mainly with religion
and political ideology. More recent work has focused on organized inquiry, or
‘science’, and the ideally knowledgeable citizen, or ‘intellectual’. Existing
between these two forms of knowledge is the ‘expert’, who often occupies a
quasi-political or quasi-juridical role. All of these forms of knowledge are
offshoots of the history of philosophy, which in the past few years has been
itself subject to a major systematic sociological treatment. We shall examine
all of these matters from a comparative (i.e. historically informed,
cross-cultural) perspective.
The first
term of the module will be focused on science, since it is the most
authoritative institution in contemporary society. However, because science
interacts with so much of the rest of the society, we shall be quickly caught
up in all the dynamics outlined above.
MODULE
STRUCTURE: The
module consists of weekly lectures and seminars. Students enrolled in this
module can be assessed either entirely by final examination or half-assessed
essay/half-examination. The examination will be based on the lectures and
associated reading. Students are expected to develop their essay topics in
seminars, with final approval of topics from the lecturer. Students can raise
questions about the lectures and readings to either the lecturer or the seminar
leader, but the seminar leader reserves the right to forward questions to the
lecturer. There will also be an e-mail list, on which all students will be
included. It will be used to transmit general information of class interest.
Students may pose questions to the lecturer by his e-mail address, and if of
sufficiently general interest (i.e. it bears centrally on the content of the
module), the question and answer may be distributed to everyone on the list.
The seminar leader will circulate weekly exercises by the e-mail list that will
kick off the seminar discussions. Students will be responsible for regularly
checking their e-mails for late-breaking news.
In
particular, one matter will be pressing this term. There will be one week – probably
in October – when the lecturer will be called as an expert witness in a trial
in the
WEEK
|
LECTURE
|
SEMINAR
TOPIC |
|
1 (26
Sept) |
Chap 1 |
None |
|
2 (3
Oct) |
Chap 2 |
How can
science be a public good if very few people practice it or know much about
it? (1) |
|
3 (10
Oct) |
Chap 3 |
Are the
natural and social sciences fundamentally different? (2) |
|
4 (17
Oct) |
Chap 4 |
What can
we learn about the sociological character of science by examining the use of
words like ‘science’, ‘scientist’ and ‘scientific’? (3) |
|
5 (24
Oct) |
? |
? |
|
6 (31 Oct) |
READING
WEEK (NO CLASS) |
|
|
7 (7
Nov) |
Chap 5 |
Is it
rational to have an unconditional faith in science? (4) |
|
8 (14
Nov) |
Chap 6 |
How does
an understanding of the history of science contribute to an understanding of
contemporary science? (5) |
|
9 (21
Nov) |
Chap 7 |
What can
we learn about the nature of science from the study of non-Western cultures?
(6) |
|
10 (28
Nov) |
Intro to
Next Term |
What can
we say about the future of science? (7) |
COMING
ATTRACTIONS: In the
Winter Term, we shall move to consider the institutionalization of philosophy
and, more generally, that of the intellectual. Two relevant texts will be Steve
Fuller, The Intellectual (Icon Books) and Randall Collins, The
Sociology of Philosophies (Harvard University Press). These topics will be
introduced in the last week of this term. An additional class will be held on
Monday 26 April 2006 (Spring Term, Week 2) to make up for the lost week
this term.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(These books may
arise in the lecture and may be useful for your research. Students who have no
background in the history of science will find the books by Marks and Mason
especially useful. Both are out of print but they are in the library and were
popular paperbacks in their day – hence perhaps available in used bookshops or
via amazon on the web)
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_______________
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_____________.
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_____________.
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____________
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