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Numbers of points (ECTS): 10
Course Starts: Spring
Teaching semester: 1
Final examination: Spring
Course code: DSP100
Faculty of Arts and Education
Subject teacher(s)
Ståle Gundersen
John Roscoe
Introduction
The course is intended to provide a broad orientation on central issues in the philosophy and ethics of science. Through this, the candidates will develop a broader perspective on their own scientific work than what is usually given through their disciplinary training. The candidates will also be given conceptual and theoretical tools to facilitate reflection upon presuppositions that may easily be taken for granted in their own research tradition, or in science as a whole.
Finally, in order to increase reflection on values in research, research ethics and ethical problems in connection with technology and science will be part of the course.
Learning outcome

The candidate should demonstrate his/her command of the curriculum through discussions in seminars, tutorials and paper presentations.

The candidate should demonstrate abilities for analytical discussion, well structured academic argumentation and awareness of counter-arguments against his or her own positions and conclusions.

Addressing discipline-specific topics relating to the foundational debate within specific disciplines, the candidate shall be capable of pointing out a relation to general reflections and concepts (like the ones discussed in the seminars) of philosophy of science or ethics.

The candidate should be able to give a clear presentation of the content of the course paper in a lecture.

Contents
There will be arranged 6-8 seminars in philosophy of science and ethics in the beginning of the semester.
Prerequisites
No.
Exam
Assessment
One paper, 4000-6000 words
Weight
1/1
Evaluation
Passed/Failed
The paper shall be written in English or in one of the Scandinavian languages.
Deadlines
The draft of the paper should be submitted to the supervisor before Wednesday 3 rd
April.
The final version should be submitted to the supervisor before Friday 31 st
May.
Coursework requirement
The paper will be evaluated, and if it is approved, the candidate must present its principal points in a lecture (20 minutes) during the course semester for the supervisor and some course participants. The candidates’ PhD-supervisors and other members of the candidates’ institutes should be invited to the presentations.
Available for private candidates
No.
Only available to
PhD-candidates at the University of Stavanger and at cooperating research institutions may participate in the course. University of Stavanger employees may also participate, if they are in the process of planning a PhD-degree .
Due to a limited number of places, all candidates must apply to participate.

Student evaluation
The course participants are encouraged to contribute to the course evaluation. The first evaluation form will be sent to the candidates on e-mail soon after the seminars are finished, and the second evaluation form will be sent when all papers are handed in.
Method of work
The course will be held as seminars with discussions and individual tutorials. The seminars will be concentrated at the beginning of the semester. Each candidate is required to write an individual paper, discussing a topic of particular interest. The paper must be presented in a lecture during the course semester.
Seminars
The seminars will be arranged in week 3 and 4. A detailed timetable will be sent to the course participants in the beginning of December 2012.
Literature
The textbooks and articles must be read before the seminars.
Classical theory of science
Collins, H. (2009) “Social Construction of Science” in J.K.B. Olsen, S.A. Pedersen and V.F.
Hendricks (eds.) A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology . Chichester: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Kuhn, T. (2000) “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” in T. Schick, Jr. (ed.)
Readings in the Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Postmodernism . California: Mayfield publishing Company.
(*) Okasha, S. (2002) Philosophy of Science . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Popper, K. (1998) “Science: Conjectures and Refutations” in E.D. Klemke, R. Hollinger and
D.W. Rudge (eds.) Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science (3. ed). Amherst,
N.Y.: Prometheus Books.
New developments in the theory of science
(*) Roscoe, J. (2010) The Theory of Science . Stavanger University Press.
Philosophy of social science and the humanities
Jones, T. (2011) “Uncovering ‘Cultural Meaning’” in F. Guala and S. Steel (eds.) The
Philosophy of Social Science Reader . London: Routledge.

Lukes, S. (2011) “Methodological Individualism Reconsidered” in Guala and S. Steel (eds.)
The Philosophy of Social Science Reader . London: Routledge.
Ethics
The lectures notes will be available after the seminar.
The two textbooks (marked with *) are available at the bookshop at UiS. The articles will be sent on e-mail.
Each student suggests a selection of texts (at least 250 pages) in cooperation with his/her supervisor. The texts should be closely connected to the topic of the paper.