Coordonnées de l'enseignant : Dr. Olivier Sartenaer, Institut supérieur de Philosophie, Place
du Cardinal Mercier, 14, Louvain-la-Neuve (bureau B-216). Email :
olivier.sartenaer@uclouvain.be.
The final evaluation will pertain to the student's understanding of the fundamental concepts
exposed during the lessons. It will consist of a written exam
The course will review the main topics of scientific metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, from the early 20th century onwards. Some of the topics that will be addressed are scientific realism, induction, falsification, empiricism, the relation of theories to experiment, incommensurability, the nature of space and time, causation, laws of nature, reductionism, the unity of science, the ethical stakes of science, the connexion between nature, health and environment, as well as the nature of human kind, from the vantage point of contemporary neuroscience.
The sessions will largely be basedon the following books : Philosophie des sciences. Une introduction (M. Esfeld, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2009 [2nd edition]) and La Science et le vivant. Philosophie des sciences et modernité critique (B. Feltz, De Boeck, 2014 [2nd edition]).
