Search result: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2016

History and Philosophy of Knowledge Master Information
Basic Courses
Lectures and Exercises
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
862-0050-00LHistory and Philosophy of Knowledge: Goals, Methods and Work Technics Restricted registration - show details
Only for History and Philosophy of Knowledge MSc.

This lecture is important as an Introduction to the Master Programme
W2 credits2GN. El Kassar, N. Guettler, M. Hampe, F. Hupfer, C. Jany, B. Schär, M. Wulz
AbstractThe lecture series are held by all scientific disciplines involved in the HPK-Master programme and are meant to acquaint the students with the different ambitions, methods and techniques of each discipline. Furthermore, the lectures should serve as a "helpdesk" and "workshop" for all theses written within the M.A. programme.
ObjectiveThe interdisciplinary lecture series are exclusively addressed to the students of the HPK-M.A. programme. They provide an insight into all the disciplines which participate in the M.A. programme and their specific demands, approaches, problems and techniques. Subsequent to the lectures, there will be an opportunity to discuss difficulties occurring within the procedures of thesis-writing. The series should provide and secure a substantial, methodological and formal orientation within the disciplines taught in the M.A.-program.
Prerequisites / NoticeDates: Thursday, 10-12
851-0125-18LSelf-Ownership - Philosophical and Juridical Perspectives
Does not take place this semester.
W3 credits2G
AbstractRights in Objects are founded by an inalienable Self-Ownership. These Idea ist central for personal rights. We speak of my body, my genes, my name, my portrait, my ideas oder ways of eypression.
ObjectiveParticipants will make acquintance with founding texts of the natural rights property concept (John Locke). They will see the connection between inalienable self-ownership, prohibition of slavery, derivaitve commercial rights and modern personal rights. They will learn about the problems of self-ownership today concerning property in one's body and intellectual property. Critical alternatives to the property paradigm will be discussed.

Participants will have the opportunity to gain access to unfamiliar texts from the philosophical tradition and to see their relevance today. They experience the consequences of a certain use of concepts und orient themselves in current bioethical, juridical and political discussions.
ContentTexts by Locke, Nozick, Christman, Otsuka, Rasmussen, Schneider, Stirner, Fichte and Forschner. Founding of property right in self-ownership (Locke), revival of this concept in Nozick and his egalitarian critics. Critique of the concept of self-ownership related to property in one's body. Looking back to the personal self-relatedness that comes up again in Intellectual Property and in modern personal rights.
LiteratureText, Seminarplan und Literaturliste in ILIAS Lehrdokumentenablage.
851-0157-00LMind and BrainW3 credits2VM. Hagner
AbstractIn the last 2500 years, the mind-brain relationship has been articulated in various ways. In these lectures, I will explore the scientific and philosophical aspects of this relationship in the context of relevant cultural, historical and technological processes, with a focus on the modern neurosciences, but I will also discuss works of art and literature.
ObjectiveBy the end of this lecture, students should be familiar with essential positions in the scientific and philosophical treatment of questions relating the mind to the brain. It should also become clear that some of the most relevant problems in current neurosciences have a long history.
ContentAccording to a myth, the ancient Greek philosopher Democrit dissected animals, because he was in search of the seat of the soul. Current neuoscientists use neuroimaging techniques like functional magnetic-resonance-tomography in order to localize cognitive and emotional qualities in the brain. Between these two dates lies a history of 2500 years, in which the relationship between the mind and the brain has been defined in various ways. Starting with ancient and medieval theories, the lecture will have its focus on modern theories from the nineteenth century onward. I will discuss essential issues in the history of the neurosciences such as localization theories, the neuron doctrine, reflex theory, theories of emotions, neurocybernetics and the importance of visualizing the brain and its parts, but I will also include works of art and literature.
851-0549-00LWebClass Introductory Course History of Technology Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 100.

Particularly suitable for students of D-BAUG, D-INFK, D-ITET, D-MATL, D-MAVT.
W3 credits2VG. Hürlimann
AbstractWebClass Introductory Course History of Technology is an introductory course to the history of technology. The students are challenged to discover how technological innovations take place within complex economical, political and cultural contexts. They get introduced into basic theories and practices of the field.
ObjectiveStudents are introduced into how technological innovations take place within complex economical, political and cultural contexts. They get to know basic theories and practices of the field.
ContentWebClass Einführungskurs Technikgeschichte ist eine webgestützte Einführung in die Technikgeschichte. Technikgeschichte untersucht Angebote technischer Entwicklungen, die in bestimmten historischen Kontexten entstanden und von sozialen Gruppen oder ganzen Gesellschaften als Möglichkeit sozialen Wandels wahrgenommen, ausgehandelt und schliesslich genutzt oder vergessen wurden.
Der Onlinekurs wird von zwei obligatorischen Präsenzveranstaltungen begleitet. Die aktive Teilnahme und das erfolgreiche Bearbeiten von Onlineaufgaben werden vorausgesetzt.
Lecture notesInformationen zur Arbeit mit WebClass finden Sie unter Link. Sobald Sie eingeschrieben sind, haben Sie Zugang zum Skript und zu weiterführenden Materialien.
LiteratureLink
Prerequisites / NoticeOnlinekurs kombiniert mit zwei obligatorischen Präsenzveranstaltungen. Einführungssitzung: 26.9.2016, zweite Präsenzsitzung: 14.11.2016. Die aktive Teilnahme und das erfolgreiches Bearbeiten von Onlineaufgaben werden vorausgesetzt.
Die Zahl der Teilnehmenden ist auf 100 beschränkt. Anmeldung: In der Einführungssitzung am 26.9.2016, zudem schriftliche Einschreibung sowohl unter Link wie auch auf dem Olat-Server.
Verspätete Anmeldungen können nicht berücksichtigt werden.

Weitere Informationen unter Link
851-0125-41LIntroduction Into Philosophy of Technology
Particularly suitable for students of D-ITET, D-MATL, D-MAVT
W3 credits2VO. Müller
AbstractSince antiquity philosophy reflects about and evaluates technology. The technical developments in the 19th and 20th century have led to a autonomous philosophy of technology, which had become important also for other philosophical disciplines (e.g. in Heidegger's philosophy).
ObjectiveThe course gives an overview on the main schools in the philosophy of technology. Students should learn to analyse and evaluate different philosophies of technology (compensation, objectification, externalisation). For credit point a critical protokoll is to be written.
851-0609-06LGoverning the Energy Transition Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 30.

Primarily suited for Master and PhD level
W2 credits2VT. Schmidt
AbstractThis course addresses the role of policy and its underlying politics in the transformation of the energy sector. It covers historical, socio-economic, and political perspectives and applies various theoretical concepts to specific aspects of governing the energy transition.
Objective- To gain an overview of the history of the transition of large technical systems
- To recognize current challenges in the energy system to understand the theoretical frameworks and concepts for studying transitions
- To demonstrate knowledge on the role of policy and politics in energy transitions
ContentClimate change, access to energy and other societal challenges are directly linked to the way we use and create energy. Both the recent United Nations Paris climate change agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals make a fast and extensive transition of the energy system necessary.
This course introduces the social and environmental challenges involved in the energy sector and discusses the implications of these challenges for the rate and direction of technical change in the energy sector. It compares the current situation with historical socio-technical transitions and derives the consequences for policy-making. It then introduces theoretical frameworks and concepts for studying innovation and transitions. It then focuses on the role of policy and policy change in governing the energy transition, considering the role of political actors, institutions and policy feedback.
The course has a highly interactive (seminar-like) character. Students are expected to actively engage in the weekly discussions and to give a presentation (15-20 minutes) on one of the weekly topics during that particular session. The presentation (30%) and participation in the discussions (20%) will form one part of the final grade, the remaining 50% of the final grade will be formed by a final exam.
Lecture notesSlides and reading material will be made available via moodle.ethz.ch (only for registered students).
LiteratureA reading list will be provided via moodle.ethz.ch at the beginning of the semester.
Prerequisites / NoticeThis course is particularly suited for students of the following programmes: MA Comparative International Studies; MSc Energy Science & Technology; MSc Environmental Sciences; MSc Management, Technology & Economics; MSc Science, Technology & Policy; ETH & UZH PhD programmes.
851-0144-19LPhilosophy of Time
Does not take place this semester.
Particularly suitable for students of D-BIOL, D-INFK, D-MATH, D-PHYS
W3 credits2VN. Sieroka
AbstractThis course provides an introduction to philosophical issues surrounding the concept of time. We will treat topics such as: the existence of past, present, and future; the possibility of time travel; the constitution of time consciousness and its possible neurophysiological counterparts; temporal biases in the conduct of our lives; responsibility to future and past generations.
ObjectiveBy the end of the course students are able to describe and compare different theories and concepts of time (physical time, perceptual time, historical time ...). They are able to identify and examine issues concerning time as they occur in various philosophical subdisciplines - especially in philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and ethics. Students are in a position to critically discuss and evaluate the repercussions of these issues in broader scientific and social contexts.
Part of the course reflects on methods and contents from physics, neuroscience/cognitive science, and logic.
851-0125-61LWhat is the Value of Truth?W3 credits2GL. Wingert
AbstractIt is useful to know which fellowships are available or to know the causes of frequent occurence of extreme weather. These truths are of instrumental value. Is it also intrinsically good to know the truth, e.g. to know that there are gravitational waves? And which is the role of truth in our lives? The course will deal with such philosophical questions.
Objective1. Teilnehmer des Kurses werden mit verschiedenen, einflussreichen philosophischen Antworten und ihren Begründungen auf die Frage bekannt gemacht: Hat die (erkannte) Wahrheit einen Wert? (U.a. von William James, von Friedrich Nietzsche und Bernard Williams.)

2. Auch soll eine überlegte Meinung gewonnen werden zu dem Verhältnis von zweckfreier Grundlagenforschung und nützlichen Anwendungen in den Wissenschaften.

3. Ebenso soll ein besseres Urteil gebildet werden darüber, welche existenzielle Rolle die Suche nach Wahrheiten in unserem persönlichen Leben hat.
851-0125-62LOn the Relation Between Nature and Social Culture in Human Cognition and ActionW3 credits2GL. Wingert
AbstractHow should we human beings understand ourselves according to our best knowledge about us, the social world, human history and nature? What are the relationsships between biological and socio-cultural determinants of our thinking and doing? Michael Tomasello, psychologist, and social philosopher, has answered these questions in a thought provoking way. His answers will be studied and examined.
Objective
LiteratureMichael Tomasello, A Natural History of Human Thinking, Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press 2014.

Michael Tomasello, A Natural History of Human Morality, Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press 2016.

Michael Tomasello, Why We Cooperate, Cambridge, Ma: MIT-Press 2009.
851-0101-18L"Bollywood and Beyond" - A Cultural History of Indian Cinema in the 20th CenturyW3 credits2VH. Fischer-Tiné
AbstractThe Indian film industry has been around for 100 years and is one of the richest and miost variegated of the world. The lecture reconstructs the historical development of Indian cinema and uses it as a lens through which cultural, social and political change in the subcontinent can be explored.
ObjectiveThe objectives of this course are three-fold. For one, the participants shall learn to question aesthetic cetainties and received modes of perception of cinematographic art. Secondly they will be acquainted with the huge potential of films as a historical source to grasp processes of social and cultural change. Besides, the reconstruction of the international career of a specific variety of art and entertainment will also raise important questions of cultural globalisation and consumerism. As a side-effect, a sit were, the students will will also be provided with important insights into the chequered history of the Indian subcontinent in during the course of the 20th century.
LiteratureZur Einführung:

DWYER, Rachel, 'Bollywood's India: Hindi Cinema as a Guide to Modern India', Asian Affairs, 41 (3), 2010, pp. 381-98.

VIRDIK, Jyotika, The Cinematic Imagination: Indian Popular Film as Social History, New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press, 2003.
Prerequisites / NoticeA detailed course description and session plan will be available from 15 Sept 2013 onwards at Link
851-0512-05LDevelopment Cooperation from a Biographical Point of ViewW3 credits2UG. Spuhler
AbstractThe Archives of Contemporary History provide 75 video interviews with contemporary witnesses who report on their missions abroad for swiss humanitarian aid and development cooperation. Based on selected interviews the motives of their commitment and the experience in a foreign country are examined.
ObjectiveThe course provides basic knowledge about the beginnings of modern development aid and its increasing professionalism. It aims for a critical and historically informed reflection on the transfer of knowledge and technology between the first and the third world. Furthermore it sharpens the critical awareness of the possibilities and limitations of retrospective accounts of eyewitnesses.
LiteratureGregor Spuhler / Lea Ingber / Sonja Vogelsang: Auslandhilfe als biografische Erfahrung. In: Handlungsfeld Entwicklung. Schweizer Erwartungen und Erfahrungen in der Geschichte der Entwicklungsarbeit (Itinera 35). Hg.: Sara Elmer et al., Basel 2014, S. 253-279.
Thomas Gull / Dominik Schnetzer: Die andere Seite der Welt. Was Schweizerinnen und Schweizer im humanitären Einsatz erlebt haben, Baden 2011.
851-0125-63LImages of Mathematics
Particularly suitable for students of D-MATH
W3 credits2GM. Hampe, A. Schubbach
AbstractThe lecture series "Images of Mathematics" deals with the formalization of the objects and the logical language of mathematics from Hilbert to Gödel and considers its consequences in view of our conception of mathematical practice and knowledge, the limits of calculability and computability in mathematics, and the relation between the logical proof procedures and the involved intuitive aspects.
ObjectiveThe lecture series will present philosophical problems of theoretical mathematics in the 20th century and will discuss the consequences of formalization and axiomatization. It aims at a critical reflection on the modern images of mathematics.
ContentHow we understand Mathematics is probably strongly influenced by the Mathematics lessons we participated in during our school days. The common image of mathematics is therefore often characterized by the impression of a very stable form of knowledge with clear-cut problems and suitable recipes for finding the solution. It is a very static image which is very much in conflict with the rapid series of innovations that the discipline has experienced especially since the 19th century: Mathematics as a field of research has been highly innovative and even revolutionary as few other scientific disciplines in the last 200 hundred years.

These mathematical innovations did not only contribute to a progress amassing more and more knowledge. They very often changed how mathematicians conceived of their discipline. Even a contribution to a specific research question that appears at first sight to be minor can sometimes establish new connections to other fields, found a whole research field of its own or introduce new methods thereby changing the whole image of mathematics in the same way that a small addition to a picture can alter radically what we take it to represent.

The lecture series "Images of Mathematics" deals with a few moments in the history of the scientific discipline since the middle of the 19th century when the image of mathematics changed. In particular, it focuses on the consequences of the fact that in the 19th century mathematics started to not only reflect on their own conceptual and methodological foundations in a general manner (which had been done since the dawn of mathematics and was especially a philosophical task), but to formalize them in a strict, mathematical way: the objects of mathematics, its logical language and its proof procedures. Through Cantor's set theory, the mathematical treatment of logic since Boole and especially through Frege and the formalization of its axioms in a wide ranging discussion involving Zermelo, Fraenkel and others, this self-reflexive stance came to the fore.

Yet, the deeper mathematics dug into its foundations, the more radical the problems became. Finally, the optimistic Hilbert program of laying the foundation of mathematics within mathematics and of proving its own consistency as well as its completeness contributed to clarifying of the foundation of mathematics primarily insofar as it was doomed to failure. Gödel proved his famous incompleteness theorems and thereby dismissed at the same time the formalist attempt to reduce mathematical truth to logical provability. His work resulted in detailed insights in the precariousness of the foundation of mathematics and further numerous of productive consequences within mathematics.

Moreover, Gödel's theorems open many far-reaching and intriguing questions in view of our image of mathematics, questions concerning the conception of mathematical practice and knowledge, the limits of calculability of mathematics and the possible role of computability and machines in mathematics, the relation between the logical proof procedures and the involved intuitive aspects. In short, the image of mathematics is not as static as we sometimes expect it to be, it was radically redrawn by the mathematicians of the 20th century and has since then again been open to diverging interpretations.
LiteratureFor further reading (optional): Mark van Atten and Juliette Kennedy, Gödel's Logic, in: Handbook of the History of Logic, Vol 5: Logic from Russell to Church, ed. by Dov M. Gabbay and John Woods, Amsterdam 2009, 449-509; Jack Copeland et al. (eds.), Computability. Turing, Gödel, Church, and beyond, Cambridge 2013; Ian Hacking, Why is there philosophy of mathematics at all? Cambridge 2014; Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer, Formen der Anschauung. Eine Philosophie der Mathematik, Berlin 2008; Christian Tapp, An den Grenzen des Endlichen. Das Hilbertprogramm im Kontext von Formalismus und Finitismus, Heidelberg 2013.
851-0125-51LMan and Machine
Does not take place this semester.
Particularly suitable for students of D-CHAB, D-HEST, D-MAVT, D-MATL
W3 credits2GM. Hampe
AbstractThe lecture gives an overview about the different Man-Machine-Relations since the 16th century. Different modells of machines will be important here: the clockwork, the steam engine and the computer.
ObjectiveOn the one hand modells of machines had a heuristical value in research on man, e.g. in Harvey's discovery of blood circulation in the 17th century or in brain research in the 20th century. On the other hand these modells were always criticised, sometimes polemically, because they are supposedly not adequate for man.
Students should learn about the connections between the history of anthropology and technology and be able at the end of the course to evaluate the critical philosophical arguments that are connected with the metaphor of the machine.
851-0300-85LThe Knowledge of Literature. An IntroductionW3 credits2VA. Kilcher
AbstractThis lecture provides a general introduction to literary theory and presents the important theories dealing with knowledge and its role in and as literature.
ObjectiveStudents are introduced to the various approaches and methods of literature studies and gain an overview of literary theory.
ContentThis lecture has two aims: Firstly, it serves as a general introduction into the fiel of literary theory (thereby looking into "knowledge about literature"). Secondly, there will be a special emphasis on recent theoretical approaches that take seriously literature and knowledge as one of its components (thus investigating the "knowledge of literature"). Even though traditional criticism disagrees, a number of recent approaches, based on literature and culture studies, hold that literature is not to be conceived of as standing in opposition to the world and the classificatory system of the academic disciplines, particularly the sciences (e.g. Foucauldian discourse analysis and New Historicism). Instead, these approaches understand literature in terms of its epistemological forms and functions. Thus, the main thesis is that literature actively participates in the constitution and formation of knowledge. Literature itself generates models of knowledge, sometimes with critical or even utopian intentions. Moreover, it draws attention to the fundamental role of order and representation (systematization, narrative rendering, linguistic and pictorial representation) in both humanities and sciences.
851-0125-60LIntroduction to EpistemologyW3 credits2GN. El Kassar
AbstractIn this course we will examine fundamental questions of epistemology, e.g. What is knowledge? How are we to conceive of perception? Which beliefs are rational and justified? How do we acquire knowledge? By discussing a selection of seminal philosophical texts we will study fundamental epistemological theories.
Objective- conceptions of fundamental epistemological concepts
- sensitivity to epistemological questions
- capacity to reflect epistemological theories
- capacity to discuss epistemological theories
- reading philosophical texts (including English texts)
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