标签：philosophy of science

Review of The Meaning of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2018.10.19
Review of The Meaning of Science
This is a commissioned review. My original title was “The Meaning of Philosophy of Science”; when it was published in the China Science Daily, it was changed to “Thinking at the Edge of Science.” I actually didn’t like either title all that much, so I won’t put a title here. In any case, this is just a review of the book. Commissioned reviews always tend to lean a little toward saying nice things; in fact, this book is just so-so, and I’m not particularly recommending it. Still, what I say in the text below about an introduction to philosophy of science positioned as “non-academic” is worth writing about. Shanghai…
book reading philosophy of science book review Scientific Revolution
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2018年10月19日
Course Schedule for the 2018 Fall Semester (Introduction to Philosophy of Technology + Selected Readings in Classic Works of Philosophy of Science)

Teaching & Courses2018.09.19
Course Schedule for the 2018 Fall Semester (Introduction to Philosophy of Technology + Selected Readings in Classic Works of Philosophy of Science)
This semester I’m teaching two courses: one is “Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology” for undergraduates, and the other is the required graduate course “Selected Readings in the Classics of Philosophy of Science.” Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology meets every Tuesday at 15:20, in 6B113 of Building 6. Selected Readings in the Classics of Philosophy of Science meets every Wednesday at 13:30 (adjusting to 13:00 after October), in 3203 of Building 3. As for the reading group, the time has not yet been decided; I guess it may not officially get underway until after the National Day holiday? Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology Course Description This course alternates…
philosophy of science course Heidegger Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2018年9月19日
History of Science as a Nature Reserve—A Darwinian View of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2018.04.05
History of Science as a Nature Reserve—A Darwinian View of Science
Last Friday (March 30), I was invited to Shanghai Natural History Museum to take part in a “reading session,” where I introduced my own Outdated Wisdom. Although it was an internal event, there were quite a few listeners—more than 50 friends from museums and publishing houses took part. The title I set for my talk was “Outdated Wisdom and Its Contemporary Significance.” I heard that Liu Su was going as well, so I especially strengthened the Darwinian evolutionary logic in it, and won myself a remark: “Thought-provoking; I hadn’t expected it could be used that way.” I was pretty satisfied with that~ This talk was rather unusual for me, because…
science history of science philosophy of science Scientific Revolution
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2018年4月5日
An Interview on Science and Technology in the Magazine China Youth

AI & the Future of Technology2018.01.24
An Interview on Science and Technology in the Magazine China Youth
This is a written interview that was published in the first issue of China Youth magazine in 2018. When it was published, it seems several questions were deleted, but the answers that were used were scarcely edited at all (especially the last answer), though a few sentences were added for me in a couple of places. Here I am posting the original version. 1、By the end of June 2017, among the world’s top ten internet companies by market capitalization, five were Chinese, and among the world’s 221 emerging “unicorn” companies, Chinese firms accounted for nearly 30 percent. In contemporary China, technological力量 represented by the “new four great inventions” (high-speed rail,…
technology China history of science philosophy of science
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2018年1月24日
Comments on the 2nd Tsinghua Forum on the History and Philosophy of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2017.12.15
Comments on the 2nd Tsinghua Forum on the History and Philosophy of Science
The 2nd Tsinghua Forum on the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology was held on December 10, 2017. This year’s forum was somewhat smaller in scale than the first one, but it marked the point at which the forum entered a regular pattern; even if it were held just once a year as a summary report meeting mainly for the disciples of the Wu school, that would already be quite good. After the meeting, Teacher Wu asked me to write a review, but I spent the first day preparing classes, the second day teaching classes, and the third day came down with a cold; I am still in a…
history of science philosophy of science Wu Guosheng Greece
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2017年12月15日
Selected Readings in Philosophy of Science: “Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of the Mind” (Post-Lecture Notes by the Lecturer, by Jalinus)

Teaching & Courses2017.12.11
Selected Readings in Philosophy of Science: “Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of the Mind” (Post-Lecture Notes by the Lecturer, by Jalinus)
Note: Classmate Jalinus was the first to make a PPT since the course began (though the PPT still wasn’t very good, with too many long quoted passages), and the notes he整理ed after class were also very认真, so I hereby commend him~ I was the one who took over for Chapter Five, and in the end I also appended the outline I had sorted out. Discussion-class notes by Jalinus November 28, 2017 Chapter One: The View from Scientific Realism One of Churchland’s major aims in this book is to sketch a new blueprint for human understanding. If one cannot provide an account of human understanding, one cannot speak glibly…
philosophy of science course knowledge realism
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2017年12月11日
Selected Readings in the Original Works of Philosophy of Science: “Facts, Fiction, and Forecast” (Post-lecture Notes by Jiepo Qingshan)

Teaching & Courses2017.11.16
Selected Readings in the Original Works of Philosophy of Science: “Facts, Fiction, and Forecast” (Post-lecture Notes by Jiepo Qingshan)
Fact, Fiction, and Forecast Fact, Fiction and Forecast I. Nelson Goodman (wiki) Henry Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906–25 November 1998) was an American philosopher, known for his work on counterfactuals, mereology, the problem of induction, irrealism, and aesthetics. Goodman was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, the son of Sarah Elizabeth (née Woodbury) and Henry Lewis Goodman. He was of Jewish origins. He graduated from Harvard University, A.B., magna cum laude (1928). During the 1930s, he ran an art gallery in Boston, Massachusetts while studying for a Harvard Ph.D. in philosophy, which he completed in 1941. His experience as an art dealer helps explain his later turn towards aesthetics, where…
philosophy of science course counterfactuals
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2017年11月16日
Selected Readings from the Original Texts of Philosophy of Science: Reichenbach (Post-Class Notes by Zhuowu)

Teaching & Courses2017.11.03
Selected Readings from the Original Texts of Philosophy of Science: Reichenbach (Post-Class Notes by Zhuowu)
Note: This is the text record I asked the students to submit after class. The style and length of this post-class text are unrestricted: it can be a lightly revised version of the lecture notes, or a reorganized account. The purpose is first, to make it easy to review or commemorate at any time; second, to extend the classroom discussion. So I am posting it publicly on the blog, and all students and other friends can continue the discussion here in the comments (especially by using the page-side annotation function). The following text is all provided by student Zhuowu (I’m using nicknames here; everyone is free to comment using either…
philosophy of science course discussion logic
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2017年11月3日
Selected Readings in Classics of Philosophy of Science: Sample In-Class Questions

Teaching & Courses2017.11.01
Selected Readings in Classics of Philosophy of Science: Sample In-Class Questions
We’ve now finished reading two books in the course. Overall, the students have all done fairly well: basically everyone was able to complete the reading and actively participate in discussion. Of course, compared with the format of Mr. Wu’s class, my course still has far too little of a sense of pressure overall. Mr. Wu’s reading class is entirely led by him: he sprays questions at random, asking all kinds of incisive questions. His questions are all tightly keyed to the text, yet none of them can be answered by just skimming it casually. Every class has to be approached with trepidation; after class, you dare not fail to read…
philosophy of science course Scientific Revolution Kuhn
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2017年11月1日
Selected Readings from Classic Works in Philosophy of Science: Introduction

Teaching & Courses2017.09.26
Selected Readings from Classic Works in Philosophy of Science: Introduction
This class, as planned, was supposed to be me giving a general introductory lecture, but in fact it still mainly took the form of student discussion. I didn’t prepare a script, so I’m just putting the PPT content directly here. The PPT itself is fairly brief, meant only as a reference for the students in class when they review later. When I feel like it, I’ll add some connective commentary in the margins: What Is Philosophy of Science? SP or PS Scientific Philosophy Philosophy of Science “Scientific” philosophy —unscientific philosophy (“metaphysics”) “Philosophy “about science” —philosophy that discusses other objects (political philosophy, moral philosophy…) —other disciplines that discuss science (sociology of…
philosophy of science course Aristotle Kuhn
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2017年9月26日