Advanced Studies in Philosophy of Nature

Basic instruction in philosophy of Nature and natural science; Reading knowledge of English sufficient to allow for study of contemporary texts in philosophy of Nature and natural science.

Each year the course will select a particular theme - order and finality in Nature, determinism, ontological status of space and time, emergence, etc. The course will present and contrast different philosophical approaches to the selected theme. The course will attempt to include in the study of the theme a reflection on the goals and methods of the philosophy of Nature.

Upon completion of the course the student shall be able to analyze and discuss in a well-informed and original manner a question selected within the area of philosophy of Nature, relating this to developments in natural science. The student should at the end of the course be able to:
- Use research tools appropriate for philosophy of Nature;
- Conceptualize the selected question ;
- Situate his or her answers to the question within the framework of the history of the philosophy of Nature, and in relation to contemporary debates between various theories and approaches;
- To include contributions from other disciplines as appropriate to the philosophical discussion of the question ;
- To develop his or her own original argumentation in relation to the question.
- To submit the method chosen for the study of the selected question to a critical reflection.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

The evaluation consists of two elements: an oral presentation about a research article and a personal research essay.

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The 2015-16 class theme will be the contemporary philosophy of time. We will discuss questions such as: is it possible to defend a substantialist position about space-time? In what way does the determinism thesis depend on our philosophical position about space-time? What can we deduce from McTaggart style arguments? How can we understand time asymmetry? Is time travel compatible with causality? What is the problem of time in general relativity? What is the nature of movement?

Reference texts and a complete bibliography will be available via the course's website.

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