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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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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
851-0438-00L | Environment in Transition. Literature between Ecological Crisis and Utopia ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | I. Barner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Something is wrong with the planet, and it has to do with us humans. This insight challenges the sciences, the arts, politics: How can the crises be thought and represented, how can futures be imagined? With a focus on literature (cli-fi, science fiction, nature writing), the course develops a historical-critical perspective on the present and history of the ecological crisis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Participants will develop an understanding of the history and present of literature in the Anthropocene and its relationship to science, politics, technology, economics, and society. To this end, we combine textual analyses with perspectives from the history of knowledge. Students apply this knowledge by learning to develop their own points of view and to contribute them to discussions, papers, and essays. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | The guiding question is: What do the transitions mean for the production of literature and knowledge? And how does our conception of an environment in transition affect our readings? Another thread leading through the seminar is the question of the possibilities and limits of (popular) scientific and artistic methods. How are futures imagined, in science, in literature? We read and discuss selected research literature (literary and science studies) together with fiction and non-fiction from the 20th and 21st century (e.g. Dorothee Elmiger, Amitav Gosh, Frank Herbert, Franz Hohler, Max Frisch, Ursula K. LeGuin, Octavia E. Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Anna Tsing). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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851-0066-00L | Science as a Profession? History and Present of Scientific Work ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | M. Wulz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | The seminar deals with the history and present of working conditions in science. Research requires time, a place to work, instruments, financial resources. How do social and economic relations, how do institutions and the ways of funding shape the working conditions in science? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Students learn about the history and present of the economic and social conditions of scientific work. They learn to critically reflect on the economic conditions, requirements and discriminatory effects of scientific institutions and of research funding. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | The seminar deals with the economic and social conditions of scientific research from 18th to 21st centuries: from "gentleman science" and industrial research, academic positions and extra-institutional research, the exclusion of women from academic disciplines, scientific research under the conditions of emigration and discrimination to current phenomena such as "entrepreneurial science" or academic precarity. Who had the time and means for scientific research at a certain moment in history? Which forms of funding and research organisation led to science becoming a profession, and whom did they exclude? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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851-0039-00L | Plural Perspectives on Rationality ![]() Does not take place this semester. | W | 3 credits | 2S | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Rationality has been treated as a “universal” character of human beings. But such understandings, though dominant, also came under androcentric and Eurocentric critiques. They point out that exclusion of women and people of color is not aberrant bad scientific practices, but rather constituent of the principle modern science based on. This seminar offers plural perspectives on rationality. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Students will be introduced to theories of rationality from different philosophical traditions. Their ways of thinking shall be enriched and their sensibilities towards diversity improved. Students will participate in discussions, gain and sharpen their ability to understand complicated texts and identify arguments. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | Understood as a distinctive human attribute, rationality has been treated as a “universal” character of human beings. But the course of philosophy has witnessed how dominant understandings of rationality came under androcentric and Eurocentric critique. Such reflections argue that exclusion of women and people of color is constituent of the principle modern science is based on rather than aberrant bad scientific practices. What counts as reasonable? What is rational? These questions seem quotidian. We deal with them every day. Telling right from wrong, true from false is considered a basic ability of reasoning. For example, clarity and consistency are what we almost always strive for, while contradictions and ambiguities are what we try our best to avoid. Such tendency, which is to be found not only in everyday life but also in science of different kinds, seems to suggest that there is nothing valuable, nothing worth learning from ways of reasoning that do not share these standards – or even deny that they can count as rationality at all. Nevertheless, when taking into consideration the androcentric and Eurocentric critiques modernity has been receiving so far, it is questionable whether the standard of rationality can really (or justifiably) be so impoverished. How can we think about rationality otherwise? Can we learn anything valuable from, for example, contradictions and ambiguities? If so, how to think about these unconventional ways of reasoning? In this seminar we will read and discuss theories of rationality from diverse philosophical traditions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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862-0117-00L | History of Knowledge or History of Science? ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | M. Hagner, A. Te Heesen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | What is knowledge? What is scientific knowledge? How can knowledge be examined historically and epistemologically in order to achieve something like knowledge justice? These questions have recently triggered debates about the contemporary status of knowledge, especially in the context of ideological strategies of manipulation. These questions will be discussed on the basis of relevant texts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | The aim of the seminar is to familiarize the participants with the current debates on the importance of knowledge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | While in modernity it seemed very clear what knowledge is and which technologies of knowledge are to be preferred - namely the scientific ones as they have developed in Europe - this certainty has been rendered in need of revision by global, feminist and ecological perspectives. One of the consequences has been that the history of science has been, if not replaced, then outshone by the history of knowledge. Meanwhile, the situation has been complicated by the fact that scientific knowledge is engaged in a political and epistemological struggle for authority and legitimacy with actors with very different interests. How can history of knowledge and/or history of science respond to this situation without giving up the legitimacy of scientific knowledge and at the same time meeting the demands of a pluralistic approach to knowledge? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
851-0622-00L | Inequality and Injustice: Economic and Philosophical Perspectives ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | I. Günther, K. Harttgen, N. Mazouz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Globalization and technological progress in recent decades have on the one hand reduced inequality and led to new forms of inequality on the other hand. The question is whether these new forms of inequality lead to more inequity. This course provides an overview of the current philosophical and economic discourse on inequality and injustice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Using philosophical and economic texts and discussions, students develop an understanding of the concepts, developments, causes, and consequences of inequality. Students will acquire the ability to participate in an informed discourse on the issues of inequality and injustice and to critically reflect on their actions and position in the world. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | In this seminar we will explore the issues of inequality and injustice. In doing so, we will explore the following questions: What is meant by inequality and injustice? Under what circumstances are inequalities unjust? Have inequalities and injustices increased or decreased over the last 50 years? What are the causes of increasing or decreasing inequality? What do these inequalities and injustices mean for our society? And what public and private measures are needed for more inclusive societies? - Concepts of inequality and injustice - Development of inequality over the last 50 years based on different dimensions of inequality: income, wealth, education, health, CO2 emissions, political participation. - Discrimination of women, people with physical disabilities, people of the "Global South". - Causes of inequality: globalization, technological progress, political systems and institutions, economic system, social discrimination, stereotypes and norms. - Consequences of inequality: justice, dignity, inefficiency - Towards more inclusive societies: the role of policies, civil society, social movements and individual behavior. The seminar is based on readings of economic and philosophical texts and is complemented by short presentations and discussions with scholars of philosophy and economics. In some cases, practitioners will also be invited to the seminar. Students will apply the concepts, theories and knowledge covered in the course to practical issues related to inequality and inequity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
851-0194-00L | Semiotics: Between Science and Literature ![]() Does not take place this semester. | W | 3 credits | 2V | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Semiotics is the study of signs and sign-use. In this seminar, we will focus on signs and sign-use in science and mathematics: which signs do scientists create, how are they used, and what is the relation between sign-use and the production of scientific or mathematical knowledge? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Overview of different semiotic theories and problems Semiotics of mathematics and science | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | Semiotics is the study of signs and sign-use. As a discipline, semiotics is a chimera, which combines elements of philosophy, linguistics, literature, cognitive science, psychology, anthropology, biology and computer science. In this seminar, we will focus on signs and sign-use in science and mathematics: which signs do scientists create, how are they used, and what is the relation between sign-use and the production of scientific knowledge? We will address these questions by reading a selection of existing semiotic theories as well as some applications of semiotic theory to the study of scientific and mathematical practices. Based on this, we will gain insight into the processes of meaning-making, which we engage in when learning, producing or communicating scientific or mathematical knowledge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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851-0162-00L | Philosophy of Physics ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | M. Hampe, R. Wallny | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Close reading of and reflection about selected texts from physicists (e.g. C.F: Weizsäcker, Wilczek, Susskind) on the philosophical problems and consequences of their work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Participants should develop a clear view of the epistemological foundations of their work and its consequences for philosophy of science and philosophy of nature. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | Newton's opus magnum of 1687 is still called a philosophy of nature: "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica". The separation of physics from philosophy is new, and institutionally executed only in the 19th century. Since than the experiment is not a philosophical method and mahematical symbolization not part of the languages of philosophy anymore. But although the subjects were divided methodically they stayed in contact via their content. This can be seen in the reflexions of physicists like C. F: v. Weizsächer, Frank Wilczek or Leonard Susskind, who were all concerned with epistemological questions and topics related to the philosophy of science and philosophy of nature. The seminar is devoted to these reflections and will ask in what relation the philosophy of physicists stands to the physics of their time. We will discuss problems of the unity of physics, of emerging laws and of the beauty or ugliness of the physical universe resp. the theories about it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literature | see moodle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prerequisites / Notice | The course follows the concept of an "inverted classroom". A prerequisite is that the relevant texts have been read prior to the lecture. The assistants will give support. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
862-0118-00L | Democracy & Education: John Dewey’s Philosophy of Education between the Classroom and Civil Society ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | M. Boenig-Liptsin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | In this course, participants form a reading circle to read John Dewey’s Democracy and Education (1916). The book explores the idea of the classroom as a constitutive site of a democratic community, where students engage together to solve problems. Democracy in this context becomes a way of life through which its members are able to engage with and transform one another’s beliefs and goals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | John Dewey’s Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (1916) is usually considered his most important contribution to American reform pedagogy. Although his ideas had a rather troubled history of implementation in public schools in the US, they were still widespread, and remain a valuable resource to many practitioners and scholars in pedagogy today. The book explores the idea of the classroom as a constitutive site of a democratic community, where students engage together to solve problems. Democracy in this context becomes a way of life through which its members are able to engage with and transform one another’s beliefs and goals. This course will put into practice Dewey’s model of the democratic classroom. Instead of an educational authority passing down an interpretation of the text to an audience, all participants will share the task and opportunity to build interpretations as equals. Thus, the course takes an experimental form: learning objectives are not predetermined, but to be (re)constructed by the participants in the process of engagement. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their educational experiences and their relation to the democratic nature of the community they grew up in or take part in today. We suggest the following three components as learning and teaching vehicles: - 30-40 pages of reading every week (from the 2nd week on) before each weekly meeting. The goal is not to attain a “right” or “true” interpretation of the text, but an interpretation of the text that resonates with the participant’s life and experiences in democratic communities and education institutions. The focus here shall not be on the production of a text, but on reading and reflection. - Before every weekly meeting (from the 2nd week on), participants write a post about what they found interesting, problematic, helpful, or difficult to understand in the reading. We encourage participants to engage in some form of written experimentation with thoughts during or after the reading, for example in the form of a journal or curation of text excerpts, and from there produce a comment of roughly 100, max. 200 words, which others will be able to read. - Each participant takes the responsibility to moderate one weekly meeting. Together with the comments from the other participants, the moderator may construct a cluster of questions or a key thread that helps us through the reading. This is not meant to be a presentation. The idea behind this is that the organization of the classroom is decentered. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
851-0527-00L | Introduction to the History of Technology: Concepts, and Current Debates ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2V | F. Mauch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Technology and society cannot be separated: No society functions without technology. The seminar offers a problem-oriented introduction to basic questions of the history of technology, introduces approaches to the history of technology and discusses selected, ongoing debates. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | The course seeks to provide a critical introduction to the issues, methods, and selected areas of research in the history of technology. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content | History of technology investigates technological developments that arise in specific historical contexts. These developments are perceived by social groups or entire societies as a means of social change and ultimately find use or are forgotten. The questions that history of technology poses derive from the technological and social change that are a product of contemporary orientation and thinking; current historiographical methods provide the tools for answering these questions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prerequisites / Notice | Beginn 2. Semesterwoche (26.09.2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
851-0314-00L | The Left and Antisemitism ![]() | W | 3 credits | 2S | A. Kilcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | The Left and antisemitism, can this go together? In the seminar, we will explore the cultural, epistemic, biological, medial and political foundations of this complicated constellation since the 19th century. Together with guests, we will analyse antisemitism on the left historically, critically and culturally. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learning objective | Left and anti-Semitic, does that even go together? How did left-wing anti-Semitism emerge and how has it developed since the 19th century (also on the basis of biological arguments)? In this seminar, we will explore the cultural, knowledge, media and political-historical foundations of a complicated constellation of problems. We will take a closer look at the positions of Jewish exponents as well as the debates and conflicts within left-wing parties and organisations. And together with guests, we will analyse the conflicts around anti-Semitism (for example in connection with the critique of capitalism, Documenta fifteen, BDS, etc.) from a historical and cultural studies perspective. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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