Search result: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2023
History and Philosophy of Knowledge Master  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Number | Title | Type | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 862-0050-00L | Theory and Methodology MAGPW  | W | 3 credits | 2G | E. Sammarchi, N. Kirchner, D. Lucas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Introduction to methods, theories and work techniques of the disciplines represented in the study programme. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The interdisciplinary seminar is aimed exclusively at students of the master's program "History and Philosophy of Knowledge". It is designed to give students an insight into the subjects represented in the degree program and their specific requirements, procedures, questions and working techniques. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | Dates: Thursday, 10-12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 853-0725-00L | History Part One: Europe (The Cradle of Modernity, Britain, 1789-1914) | W | 3 credits | 2V | H. Fischer-Tiné | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | A range of fundamental processes have transformed European societies in the course of the 19th and the 20th centuries. This lecture series looks a several key aspects of these modernization processes and ask about their continuing relevance for our times . The regional focus lies on the Britain, where these processes took place for the first time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | At the end of this lecture course, students can: (a) highlight the most important changes in the "long nineteenth century" in Britain (b) explain their long-term effects (also for other European countries ; and (c) relate these changes to global developments today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The thematic foci include: Industrialization, urban growth, democratisation and mass politics, shifting gender roles and ideals, and the emergence of consumerism and leisure culture. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | Power Point Slides and references will be made available in digital form during the course of the semester. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Mandatory and further reading will be listed on the course plan that is made available as from the first session. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | This lecture series does not build upon specific previous knowledge by the students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0157-00L | Mind and Brain | W | 3 credits | 2V | M. Hagner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | In 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | By 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | According 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0450-00L | Digital Ethics and Politics | W | 3 credits | 2G | M. Boenig-Liptsin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | This course introduces students to the ethical, cultural, and political contexts and consequences of digital technologies (big data, computing, Artificial Intelligence) and equips them with an interpretive social science toolkit for critical thinking and responsible action in a digital world. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | By the end of the course, students will be able to identify issues of ethical or political significance around digital technologies, analyze them in systematic ways using key concepts from the study of technology and society and deploy their analysis to intervene in and shape public debates about issues of importance to them. Learning Objective 1: Students will have developed a command of the key interpretive social science concepts ("STS lenses") for the analysis of the ethics and politics of digital societies. Assessment 1: Analytic essay (30% of final grade): take-home, graded according to a rubric Learning Objective 2: Students will be able to identify their own ethical positionality in contexts of digital societies. Assessment 2: 4 reflection exercises (10% of final grade): 500 words each, graded for completion Learning Objective 3: Students will be able to intervene in and shape the public debate about an ethical or political issue in contexts of digital societies by producing effective communications using their situated perspectives and systematic arguments. Assessment 3: Course project (60% of final grade), consisting of: • Individual write-up of approximately 750-1000 words (30%), graded according to a rubric • Participation in mock debate (10%) • Team synthesis (10%) • Team presentation (10%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Data-driven services and artificial intelligence-powered processes inform how people act in and know the world. These new tools, systems, and infrastructures have profound consequences for how people think of themselves, relate to one another, organize collective life, and envision desirable futures. This course examines how data and computing are entangled with diverse human contexts (histories, institutions, political cultures, and material bases) and ethics (values, norms, identities, and visions of the good). We will bring frameworks and methods from Science, Technology and Society (STS), such as cross-national comparison, co-production, and controversy studies, and historically-grounded perspectives to bear on topics that include: ● The dynamic relationship between data, computing, democracy, and law; ● The role of data and computing in the development of scientific and political expertise and public reason ● Transformations in forms of collective life (e.g. sensors, machine learning, and artificial intelligence and changing landscapes of labor and industry) ● Transformations in how life is governed with data and computing tools (e.g. how governments and corporations provide public goods such as health and security to citizens) ● Local and global approaches to the governance of data and computing technologies ● The meaning of responsibility in data science and computing practice amid shifts in human subjects, community, and political institutions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0048-00L | Introduction to Ethics | W | 3 credits | 2V + 2U | N. Mazouz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | What should I do? What is a good life? How should we shape our coexistence with other people - within political communities as well as between communities? And: What role does thinking about such questions play? In this course, basic questions of practical philosophy and their answers are introduced systematically and historically. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students will get an overview of different historical and contemporary approaches in moral philosophy, political philosophy, social philosophy and anthropology. They are enabled to further developing their abilities to understand complex theories, to critically reflect on them and to put them up for discussion. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | What should I do? What is a good life? How should we shape our coexistence with other people - within political communities as well as between communities? And: What role does thinking about such questions play? In this course, basic questions of practical philosophy and their answers are introduced systematically and historically. In particular, example cases from science and technology are addressed. The course is accompanied by a tutorial in which the theoretical approaches can be deepened by means of examples. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0360-00L | The Noise of Culture: Literature, Babel, and the Meaning of Meaning | W | 3 credits | 2V | P. Gerard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | When is noise—din in the pub, static on the line, attenuation of the signal—a problem for communication? When is noise art? We’ll ask James Joyce. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | To gain familiarity with noise as a technical, systems-theoretical, and philosophical concept. To draw connections between noise as a mythical problem (Babel) and noise as a telecommunications problem. To apply recent conceptualizations of noise to the interpretation of several works of modern literature. To use noise to reexamine several central premises of traditional literary criticism, including meaning, intention, and representation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | In this course we will explore how noise functions both as a threat to meaning and as a source of new order, with special attention to literary texts. We will begin with the myth of Babel and look at several subsequent attempts to redress the noisy confusion. As we will learn, noise is a necessarily “parasitical” term; we will follow its modern uses across a range of 20th century texts drawn from the fields of semiotics (Ogden, Eco), cybernetics (Wiener, Bateson), and philosophy (Serres, Derrida). Literary texts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and John Cage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0005-00L | Colour-Coded Conflict: A Global History of Racism and Anti-Racism (c. 1500-2000) | W | 3 credits | 2V | H. Fischer-Tiné | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | The lectures analyses the trajectories of racism and anti-racism from the late 15th to the early 20th century. In an effort to go beyond the usual focus on anti-semitism, various forms of racist thought and practices linked to European and extra-European imperialism are scrutinised. Particular emphasis lies on scientific racism in the 19th/20th centuries and the counter-discourses it triggered. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The students learn to historicise 21st century phenomena related to the legacy of racial thought, such as the "Black Lives Matter" movement or the current controversies in Europe, Australia and North America revolving around non-western migrants and refugees. Importantly, students of the sciences are sensitized for the role their disciplines played in creating structural inequalities. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The lecture provides an overview of modern forms of racism as they emerged since the late 15th century. It reconstructs the close entanglement of racism with European expansion, but it also looks at racist practices and world views beyond the West. Importantly, it demonstrates that racist rhetoric went never uncontested by also discussing in-depth anti-racist critique and critics from the anti-racist interventions of Bartholomeo de las Casas in early modern Spain to the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s or the South African anti-Apartheid struggle during the final decades of the 20th century. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0518-00L | Techniques of Modern Punishment – a Global History | W | 3 credits | 2V | S. M. Scheuzger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | The course deals with the essential role of techniques in the developments of modern penal regimes in a global perspective, from the 18th century to present. The discussion focusses on confinement, from the individual cell to electronic tagging. Techniques of death penalty, corporal punishment, or forced labour in their social contexts, however, are subject of presentation as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | A) The students know central developments of modern punishment in their global entanglements. B) They are familiar with relevant penal techniques and their role in these developments. C) They are able to assess them in their social contexts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0358-00L | If History Has the Keys to My House | W | 3 credits | 2V | F. Melandri | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | In this course we will explore the relationship between literary ideation - in its expression through language and narrative of affective, intimate and relational experiences, that is, of human experience-and the historical and political reality of the societies in which each of us is given to live. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Participants will be guided to develop the research and work plan for a personal writing project (full drafting of which is not included in the course and is optional). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | In this course we will explore the relationship between literary ideation - in its expression through language and narrative of affective, intimate and relational experiences, that is, of human experience-and the historical and political reality of the societies in which each of us is given to live. Frontal contextual lectures on specific themes of Italian history-from the relationship between linguistic minorities and the central state, to the terrorism of the years of lead, to colonialism and migration-will provide the basis for the description of the working methodology behind Francesca Melandri's literary production: research, interviews, study of texts and in archives, elaboration of characters, creation of plots, use of language, and so on. These will be alternated with lectures that will take the form of a group workshop, where students will be guided to organize the work plan for a project of their own that stems from the question: in what way - spectacular or stealthy - did the great History enter our homes? Participants will be guided to develop the research and work plan for this personal writing project (full drafting of which is not included in the course and is optional). It may be non-fiction, memoiristic or narrative, and will aim to explore aspects of the history and politics of one's own community, in whatever sense one understands - country, city, neighborhood, social group, or other - through the lens of private life and affect. In the final paper, not only the questions underlying the future research should be defined, but also the work plan necessary to produce it: bibliography, study materials, descriptions of the necessary site visits, planning of interviews with witnesses, interlocutors and experts; dramaturgical elaboration (in the case of a narrative paper) ... The topic of each project will be freely chosen by each participant, and the progress of the work plan will be discussed together in class. Special emphasis, in choosing these topics, will be given to exploring the blind zones in narratives, both private and collective: in omissions, implicit, ellipses. We will be guided by the knowledge that the most powerful traces left by History in human beings and communities are found in their silences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0101-72L | The Modern City and Cultural Criticism. The "Knowledge of Life" in Reform Movements 1880-1933 | W | 3 credits | 2V | S. S. Leuenberger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Rapid industrialisation, urbanisation and the unique sociopolitical conditions of 19th century Germany led, from 1880 onwards, to radical cultural criticism and calls for reform by parts of the bourgeoisie and youth. This lecture focuses on the theory and aesthetic practice of a wide range of reform movements, the so-called "Lebensreform" (life reform movement). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The lecture is part of the "Science in Perspective" course programme: students will learn about the precursors of today’s calls for reform and alternative concepts which propagated the "back-to-nature" lifestyle around the 1900s. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The rapid industrialisation, mechanisation and urbanisation of 19th century Europe gave rise to a whole new set of challenges and problems in cities. From 1880 onwards, the unique sociopolitical conditions in Germany resulted in anti-urban and cultural criticism by parts of the bourgeoisie and academic youth, culminating in the idea that the fanatical belief in progress would end in disaster. Consequently, a wide array of reform movements sprang up, focusing on medical hygiene and sociopolitical, ideological, religious and spiritual concepts, which were intended to heal the mind and body. These movements were a wholly German and Swiss phenomenon and summarised under the term "Lebensreform" which also encompassed naturopathy, dress reforms, naturism, health food and vegetarianism, youth and womens’ movements, sexual liberation and intentional communities, organic farming, land reform, cooperative/free economy/garden city movements, nature conservation and homeland protection, progressive education and country boarding school movement, art education and Dalcroze eurhythmics, expressive dance, theatre reforms, regional literature and art, anthroposophy, the emergence of Germanic-German/German Christian religious communities, religious socialism and the Jewish renaissance. This movement was clearly politically diverse, and attracted all manner of advocates, for example, those with social anarchist, jingoistic or anti-Semitic beliefs. What made them kindred spirits was their rather negative experience of modernisation: their fantasies about the era merely confirmed that existing interpretations of the human existence (Dasein) were obsolete. Amongst the fantasies was, as described by Gert Mattenklott, the idea of a dramatic shift in current thinking and the creation of a new world, the emergence of a new mankind that embodied the characteristics of youth, and a new community. Strong dichotomies like light and darkness, hot and cold, the fears of dehumanisation and a propensity for vegetarianism were also typical of life reforms. The lecture is part of the "Science in Perspective" course programme: students will learn about the precursors of today’s calls for reform and alternative concepts which propagated the "back-to-nature" lifestyle around the 1900s. Some of the key concepts used then are unknown today or have been disavowed due to exploitation by the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. Nevertheless, some of the original topics and objectives have once again become contemporary topics of discussion due to the debate about the future of society, the whole of mankind and the planet. Historization of present-day concepts is the condition on which plans for a possible future can be compared with previous attempts and experiences, and to identify alternatives and potential impasses, and provide objective evidence for debate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | The reading list includes literary texts and discursive texts, amongst others, from Gustav Landauer, Erich Mühsam, Else Lasker-Schüler, Paul Scheerbart, Heinrich and Julius Hart, Rudolf Steiner, Sebastian Kneipp, Max Bircher-Benner, Theodor Hertzka, Franz Oppenheimer, Ebenezer Howard, Theodor Goecke, Hermann Muthesius, Karl Schmidt-Hellerau, Bruno Taut, Gustav Wyneken, Wassily Kandinsky, Ludwig Klages, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Walter Benjamin, Martin Buber. Furthermore, we will discuss creative contributions from E. M. Lilien and Fidus (pseudonym Hugo Höppener). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0195-00L | Global History of Mathematics | W | 3 credits | 2V | E. Sammarchi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | This course will approach the history of mathematics according to the perspective of global history. It will review several case studies analyzed by historians from the ancient, medieval and modern history of mathematics. It will emphasize the connections that can be established in a global dimension between mathematical practices and sources. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The course aims are: 1. To introduce students to the historical dimension of mathematics 2. To introduce students to the different meanings of "global" within the history of mathematics 3. To develop critical reflection concerning the nature of mathematical objects 5. To open the students' horizons to the plurality of mathematical cultures and practices 6. To learn how to analyze and comment on mathematical texts written in the past | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | This course will approach the history of mathematics according to the perspective of global history. It focuses on comparative and connective accounts of world-historical significance which move beyond methodological nationalism and Eurocentrism in order to highlight forms of interdependence and cross-cultural exchange. It also highlights the necessity of replacing a study of the transmission of knowledge based on outstanding individual or national contributions, with the study of an integrated world of knowledge. During the course, we will review several case studies from the ancient, medieval and modern history of mathematics. These case studies will be representative of three dimensions of analysis: transregional, transcultural, and transdisciplinary. Students will alternate the work on texts of the secondary literature, with the analysis of primary sources. During certain lectures, some invited speakers will present their research on Mesopotamian, Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic and Latin mathematics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0402-00L | Nature and Norm | W | 3 credits | 2V | M. Hampe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | People can give norms to their lives. At the same time, they are subject to natural laws. How do these two relate to each other? To be able to discuss this question, human freedom and determinateness, the role of human cognitive ability in the context of nature and the emergence of social patterns as norms for individuals have to be reflected. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Familiarity with the basics of the philosophical problems of freedom and determinacy and their relevance to environmental ethics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | People can give norms to their lives. At the same time, they are subject to natural laws. How do these two relate to each other? To be able to discuss this question, human freedom and determinateness, the role of human cognitive ability in the context of nature and the emergence of social patterns as norms for individuals have to be reflected. The lecture addresses these questions with a constant eye on environmental ethics and its history. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0301-17L | German Romanticism | W | 3 credits | 2V | C. Jany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | This introductory course to German Romanticism explores chiefly Romantic poetics and its reflexive as well as ironic forms of communicating and knowing, which eschew rationalistic and scientific platitudes. Equally important will be the inherent contradictions of Romanticism, for it is division, not unity, speaking from its heart, the ecstatic experience of absence and failure--Sehnsucht. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | 1) develop an understanding of "Romanticism", of Romantic poetics and its reflexive as well as ironic forms of communicating and knowing 2) read the literary texts in question very carefully so as to get to know that mode of perception and description which since Ludwig Tieck, Novalis, Friedrich Schlegel, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Joseph von Eichendorff, etc. is called "Romantic" 3) participate in class by listening carefully and also through critical questions and feedback. This third point is particularly important because the lectures will serve as the basis for a small book, "A Short Introduction to the Literature of German Romanticism." 4) Since this lecture is part of "Science in Perspective" (SiP), we will also explore the relation between Romanticism and modern science. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 851-0095-00L | Is All Relative? On Scientific Authority, Belief Change, and Universally Valid Norms Doctoral students can receive credit for the achievements of this course in the section "Transferable Skills". | W | 3 credits | 2G | L. Wingert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Is all relative? “Yes!” is often the answer in societies of the West, the East, and the South now. The sciences are but one belief system among others like religions. Human rights are inventions with vested interests of their Western inventors. Reality is standpoint-relative. For, the view from nowhere is impossible. Yesterday’s knowledge is today’s merely socially shared belief. Is this true? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Those students who are studying the explained and commented literature and following attentively the discussions will know certain answers to some important questions. And they will be able to evaluate those answers to the following questions: 1. What are reasons for the authority of the sciences in the 21th century? 2. Scientific theories about the world are incomplete, they changed and will change. Should we conclude from incompleteness and change that scientific authority is doubtful or even illegitimate? 3. Social norms and scientific methods vary with historical times and with cultures. Do we have to draw the conclusion that there are no universally valid social norms? Do we have to accept and tolerate cultures and methods whatever they are? 4. We human beings form opinions about the world and cope with the world on the bases of firm background beliefs, values, norms, and interests. Does this make experienced reality standpoint relative? 5. What is the right and what is the wrong way to conceptualize “relative” and “relativism”? 6. In which sense a truth is relative and in which sense it is not? 7. How should we understand the relation between “relative”/”relativism” and “objective”/”objectivity”? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Literature in alphabetical order: Martin Carrier, Wissenschaft im Griff der Wirtschaft. Auswirkungen kommerzialisierter Forschung auf die Erkenntnisgewinnung, in: Gerhard Schurz, Martin Carrier (Hrsg.), Werte in den Wissenschaften. Neue Ansätze zum Werturteilsstreit, Berlin 2013, S. 374-396. Nancy Cartwright, A Philosopher Looks At Science, Oxford 2022, I. The Melange of Theory Ingredients: Concepts; Models and Narrativs; Diagrams, Illustrations, and Graphs; Experiments and the Testing of Theory, S. 19-61. Pascal Engel, Les vices du savoir. Essai d’éthique intellectuelle, Marseille 2019, Teil V, Kap. 1: Les valeurs et normes épistémiques sont-elles simplement sociales?, S. 275-293; Kap. 3: Quelles taxinomies pour les vertus et les vices intellectuels?, S. 298-311. Stephen Gaukroger, Objectivity. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2012. Jürgen Habermas, Vom pragmatischen, ethischen und moralischen Gebrauch der Vernunft, in: ders., Erläuterungen zur Diskursethik, Frankfurt/M. 1991, S. 100-118. Sandra Harding, Objectivity and Diversity, Chicago 2015, Kap 7: After Mr. Nowhere. New Proper Scientific Selves, S. 150-173. Katja Hosling, Roseanne Russell, Discrimination Law. Equality Law, and Implicit Bias, in: Michael Brownstein, Jennifer Saul (Hrsg.), Implicit Bias & Philosophy. Moral Responsibility, Structural Injustice, and Ethics, Oxford 2016, S. 255-278. Matthias Mahlmann, Mind and Rights. The History, Ethics, Law and Psychology of Human Rights, Cambridge 2023, Kap. 3.6: The Many Roots of Human Rights, S. 180-198. Thomas Nagel, The Last Word, Oxford 1997, Introduction; Kap. 6: Ethics; S. 3-11, 101-125. Jürgen Renn, Die Evolution des Wissens. Eine Neubestimmung der Wissenschaft für das Anthropozän, Berlin 2022, Teil 2: Wie sich Wissensstrukturen wandeln. Kap. 4: Strukturelle Veränderungen in Wissenssystemen, S. 155-198. Peter Unger, Philosophical Relativity, Oxford 1984, Teil III: A Relativistic Approach to Some Philosophical Problems, S. 46-64. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0125-71L | Whose Responsibility for What? On Individual and Collective Responsibility Particularly suitable for students of D-ARCH, D-BAUG, D-HEST, D-MTEC, D-USYS Doctoral students can receive credit for the achievements of this course in the section "Transferable Skills". | W | 3 credits | 2G | L. Wingert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Responsibility is a key concept in ethics: The individual's responsibility is emphasized. Contrary to that, one often points to the limits of a person's responsibility, e.g. for a stock market crash, for greenhouse gas emissions, for injust social conditions. What belongs to to our responsibility as individuals and what to our collective responsibility? And do robots have responsibilities? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | 1. Certain concepts should be clarified: e.g., the very meaning of "being responsible for one's actions and its consequences". To what extent are we responsible for the social conditions we find ourselves in? 2. One theoretical position in the philosophy of sociality holds that only individual persons (and not firms, institutions, or states) can be responsible for action and social conditions. Students should be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this thesis (methodological individualism). 3. What does responsibility mean in special social spheres like the economy and the sciences? What does a citizen's collective and personal responsibility consist in? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0313-00L | Literature and Natural Science (according to Goethe) | W | 3 credits | 2V | A. Kilcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Literature and natural science, as different as they seem, touch each other in many ways. In the seminar, we will explore these contacts using Goethe as an example, who for his part wrote scientific studies, linking empiricism and speculation. At the same time, he also reflected on these subjects in literary form, e.g. in the novel "Die Wahlverwandtschaften". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | - General methodological aspects of determining the relationship between literature and natural science - Reading and analysis of Goethe's scientific writings - Historical contextualisation of Goethe's scientific studies around 1800 - Knowledge-poetological connection between Goethe's scientific and his literary work | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | At first glance, literature and the natural sciences seem conceivably far apart: on the one hand, fiction, figurative language, narrative methods for describing imaginary worlds, on the other, exact scientific methods for describing the physical world. On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the two intersect in many ways. These intersections can be discussed using the most important author of the German language to date as an example: Goethe. It is remarkable that Goethe himself also conducted diverse scientific studies in the fields of geology, physics, colour theory and botany and wrote major works on these subjects that are still discussed today. In doing so, he intertwined empiricism with speculation and thus arrived at his own concept of nature, which already combines scientific and literary methods. At the same time, Goethe also dealt with these scientific subjects in literary form, both in poems and in dramas (such as „Faust") and novels (such as „Wahlverwandtschaften"). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0403-00L | Vernunftkritik | W | 3 credits | 2V | M. Hampe, A.‑A. E. Särkelä | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | This lecture will give an overview of criticisms of reason from the 20th century to the present. Starting from Oswald Spengler to Horkheimer and Adorno, Wittgenstein and Feyerabend. Special attention will be given to the discussion of the empirical sciences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students should develop a first understanding of different conceptions of reason and their philosophical criticism. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | This lecture will give an overview of criticisms of reason from the 20th century to the present. Starting from Oswald Spengler to Horkheimer and Adorno, Wittgenstein and Feyerabend. Special attention will be given to the discussion of the empirical sciences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | None. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0529-00L | Constructions in Context - Built, Experienced, Narrated Does not take place this semester. | W | 3 credits | 2V | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | What techniques drive the design of the environment, and how do these forces manifest themselves in the built result? The spectrum of relevant factors ranges from construction techniques to social networking. In an analysis of various media representations, argumentative techniques in architecture and urban planning are examined and questioned and questioned. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students practice considering and placing arguments. A selection of texts demonstrates how most questions are asked with a specific intention. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The techniques of creating space are manifold: cities are expanded, hiking trails are marked out, tunnels are bored and skyscrapers are clad in shimmering stones. When something new is created, in many cases it is first criticised and then given over to habituation. This course will ask: Who criticises, for whom? And where are the blind spots of public criticism in the design of the environment? With a focus on examples from Switzerland, current issues in the debate on technical solutions for climate change and material cycles are examined. In addition, own arguments are formulated. In the thematic range - from condensation to understanding - the focus is on questions of the designed environment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Number | Title | Type | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 701-0019-00L | Readings in Environmental Thinking | W | 3 credits | 2S | J. Ghazoul | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | This course introduces students to foundational texts that led to the emergence of the environment as a subject of scientific importance, and shaped its relevance to society. Above all, the course seeks to give confidence and raise enthusiasm among students to read more widely around the broad subject of environmental sciences and management both during the course and beyond. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The course will provide students with opportunities to read, discuss, evaluate and interpret key texts that have shaped the environmental movement and, more specifically, the environmental sciences. Students will gain familiarity with the foundational texts, but also understand the historical context within which their academic and future professional work is based. More directly, the course will encourage debate and discussion of each text that is studied, from both the original context as well as the modern context. In so doing students will be forced to consider and justify the current societal relevance of their work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The course will be run as a ‘book reading club’. The first session will provide a short introduction as to how to explore a particular text (that is not a scientific paper) to identify the key points for discussion. Thereafter, in each week a text (typically a chapter from a book or a paper) considered to be seminal or foundational will be assigned by a course lecturer. The lecturer will introduce the selected text with a brief background of the historical and cultural context in which it was written, with some additional biographical information about the author. He/she will also briefly explain the justification for selecting the particular text. The students will read the text, with two to four students (depending on class size) being assigned to present it at the next session. Presentation of the text requires the students to prepare by, for example: • identifying the key points made within the text • identifying issues of particular personal interest and resonance • considering the impact of the text at the time of publication, and its importance now • evaluating the text from the perspective of our current societal and environmental position Such preparation would be supported by a mid-week ‘tutorial’ discussion (about 1 hour) with the assigning lecturer. These students will then present the text (for about 15 minutes) to the rest of the class during the scheduled class session, with the lecturer facilitating the subsequent class discussion (about 45 minutes). Towards the end of the session the presenting students will summarise the emerging points (5 minutes) and the lecturer will finish with a brief discussion of how valuable and interesting the text was (10 minutes). In the remaining 15 minutes the next text will be presented by the assigning lecturer for the following week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | The specific texts selected for discussion will vary, but examples include: Leopold (1949) A Sand County Almanach Carson (1962) Silent Spring Egli, E. (1970) Natur in Not. Gefahren der Zivilisationslandschaft Lovelock (1979) Gaia: A new look at life on Earth Naess (1973) The Shallow and the Deep. Roderick F. Nash (1989) The Rights of Nature Jared Diamond (2005) Collapse Robert Macfarlane (2007) The Wild Places Discussions might also encompass films or other forms of media and communication about nature. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 851-0196-00L | Philosophy of Pure and Applied Mathematics: From Foundations to Practice | W | 3 credits | 2S | Y. P.‑H. Hamami | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | This course is a general introduction to the philosophy of mathematics for science, mathematics and engineering students. It will introduce the main views and debates on the nature of mathematics present in contemporary philosophy. A special focus will be put on questions pertaining to the foundations of mathematics as well as on philosophical issues emerging from actual mathematical practice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The objective of this course is to help students develop a reflective stance on what mathematics is and on its special place in the landscape of human knowledge. We expect students to be able to report the main philosophical conceptions of what mathematics is. We also expect them to be familiar with key debates in the philosophy of mathematics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | This course is a general introduction to the philosophy of mathematics for science, mathematics and engineering students. It will introduce the main views and debates on the nature of mathematics present in contemporary philosophy. A special focus will be put on questions pertaining to the foundations of mathematics as well as on philosophical issues emerging from the actual practice of mathematics. The course is composed of four parts. Part I: Foundations of Mathematics. In this first part of the course, we will present the debates concerning the foundations of mathematics at the turn of the twentieth century. We will review the three main philosophical conceptions of mathematics developed during this period: logicism, formalism and intuitionism. Part II: Ontology and Epistemology of Mathematical Objects What is the nature of mathematical objects? And how can we acquire knowledge about them? Here we will present several ways of approaching these questions. We will discuss philosophical views that conceive mathematical objects as similar to physical objects, as creations of the human mind, as fictional characters, and as places in larger structures. We will see the strengths and weaknesses of these different views. Part III: Philosophy of Mathematical Practice In this part of the course, we will be concerned with a recent movement in the philosophy of mathematics dealing with the actual practice of mathematics. We will see two trends of research developed within this tradition. The first one aims to explain how we can think and reason mathematically with non-linguistic representations such as diagrams and symbolic notations. The second one asks whether there could be such things as explanations in mathematics and if yes what they are. The paradigmatic examples we will discuss here are mathematical proofs that not only establish that a theorem is true but also explain why it is true. Part IV: The Applicability of Mathematics to the Natural World It is a truism that mathematics is used everywhere in the natural and social sciences. But how come that mathematics applies so well to the natural world? If mathematics is just a pure game with symbols, or a pure invention of the human mind, it seems difficult to explain why it is so useful when formulating scientific theories about the world. In this part of the course, we will discuss this problem known as the applicability of mathematics, and we will see different philosophical solutions that have been developed to address it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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