Dr. Alex Manafu
alexman@yorku.ca
Office Location:  S414A Ross Building
Phone Number:  (416) 736-2100 Ext. 33636
Office Hours:  For information about office hours please check our course’s Moodle page.

The course examines the changes in worldview brought about by the great scientific revolutions, such as those due to Newton, Einstein, Darwin, and Freud. It considers both the empirical and the conceptual aspects of their theories and focuses on the philosophical significance of the paradigm shifts they engendered. The topics addressed in this course may include: the shift from Aristotle’s conception of motion to Newton’s, the shift from geocentrism to heliocentrism, the shift from Newton’s conceptions of space and time to Einstein’s, the shift from the organismic to the mechanistic view of the universe, the transition from alchemy to chemistry, the shift from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics, the shift from the creationist to the Darwinian view of the origin of species, the shift from the Cartesian to the Freudian view of the mind. We may also consider the influence of Islamic mathematics and astronomy on Copernicus and Galilei, the philosophical aspects of Arab alchemy and chemistry, Leibniz’s criticism of Newton’s view of space and time (the Leibniz-Clarke correspondence), the philosophical significance of the Darwinian and Freudian revolutions, the philosophical aspects of quantum mechanics, and Kuhn’s conception of scientific revolutions.

• Richard DeWitt (2018). Worldviews: An introduction to the history and philosophy of science (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-119-11889-3 or ISBN 978-1-119-11899-2. You must procure this book, as this is one of our main texts for this course. You should be able to find it at the YorkU Bookstore.

• Friedel Weinert (2008/2009). Copernicus, Darwin, & Freud: Revolution in the history and philosophy of science. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 978-1-405-18183-9. You should be able to find it at the YorkU Bookstore. It should also be available via the YorkU Library:

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/york/detail.action?docID=428256

• A selection of readings that will be made available in PDF on our course’s eClass page.

Participation: each session marked as pass/fail, you must pass 8 sessions out of 12

10 Critical reflections on the readings, each worth 1%: 10%

Presentation: 15%

Essay outline: 25%

Final essay: 50%

The presentation is mandatory, and it must take place in person, at the time convened upon. Signing up for a presentation and failing to deliver it will result in losing the presentation marks.

Participation involves attendance, but also sharing personal viewpoints, bringing up questions, answering questions, making connections, making observations, and in general being active in the seminar. Each seminar session you will be marked for participation with either pass or fail. There will be 12 seminar sessions in total, and you must pass at least 8 to pass the course.

Before every seminar session you will have the opportunity to submit a critical reflection piece (250-500 words) based on that week's readings (or only on one/some of them). In your reflection you must specify on which reading(s) you are referring to.

In your reflection piece, you may raise an objection to a philosophical idea expressed in the reading; explore some implications of the idea, make connections/comparisons with other ideas, etc. Even though the reflection pieces are short, you are expected to devote a significant amount of time thinking about and writing them. They must engage fairly deeply with the readings. No late critical reflections will be accepted. After you have submitted your critical reflection, it is not possible to revise it or to submit another one. Click "submit" only after you have decided you are happy with your work. You can submit a maximum of 10 reflections overall in this course. Good or great submissions = 1%. Mediocre = 0.5%. Superficial = 0%.

Late penalty for essays or essay drafts: 10% of the value of the essay/ each 24 hours.

NOTE: The grading scheme will be respected strictly. I do not typically go back and revise the grades of students, nor do I allow students to do extra work to boost their marks. The main reason for this is my commitment to treating all students equally.

Seminar

By the end of this course, you will:

• Explain the empirical and the conceptual aspects of the theories examined, and their metaphysical and epistemological commitments, as well as the worldviews that these theories engendered, and the transition between them.
• Critically evaluate the arguments and the controversies relating to the theories considered and the worldviews that emerged from them.
• Articulate their own philosophical standpoints and arguments concerning the theories and worldviews studied (including the surrounding debates and controversies), and express them cogently, both orally and in writing.
• Recognize the empirical and philosophical assumptions present in their own worldview, as well as in the worldviews of others, and reflect critically on them.
• Engage constructively with opposing viewpoints during classroom discussions and debates.