(in Polish) WMSFang: Philosophy of Nature in the 19th century

elementary

FI1_W03; FI1_W08;

FI1_U07; FI1_U10; FI1_U11;

FI1_K06;

The aim of the lecture is to familiarize students with the history of the philosophy of nature and natural sciences in the 19th century. The lecture will focus on issues related to the philosophy of animate nature, dealing with the topics of evolutionism, genetics, and taxonomy. The most important Victorian concepts in geology, astrobiology, and physics will also be presented. It will be shown how Victorian naturalists mixed metaphysical and religious threads in their scientific deliberations, creating theories that, on the one hand, were a harbinger of modern science, and on the other hand, still could be considered as philosophical in nature.

The nineteenth century is not only the time of the domination of natural science and the rapid development of biology, but also a period of dynamic development of the generally understood science. As early as in 1831, with the formation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, science began to be understood as a field of study of the physical world using empirical methods, at the same time, depriving it of the metaphysical traces of earlier years. To underline this change, at the first meeting of the association its chairman, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, forbade members to call themselves philosophers. The newly established 19th-century naturalist could call himself a "scientist". This word, coined by William Whewell, was initially considered an unnecessary neologism and competed with the word “philosopher” until the 1860s. The "science" itself, in the modern sense of the word, appeared in print in 1867. Despite the delay in adopting this demarcation nomenclature, the separation between science and metaphysics became more and more real, which was in line with the dominant philosophical trend, which was positivism witch, along with the postulates of empiricism, phenomenalism, and nominalism, rejected all theories that assumed the existence of something more than sensual phenomena.

Victorian natural science has not yet fully separated itself from philosophy, creating concepts that, from today's perspective, could be classified as a philosophy of nature. The lecture will focus on the presentation of the most important concepts in the field of the philosophy of nature developed in the nineteenth century, at the same time focusing on the issues of biology, geology, and physics, and showing the philosophical context of the deliberations of Victorian naturalists.

1. Losee J. A historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001

2. Mayr E., The growth of biological thought. Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, London 1982

Additional Literature:

1. The Cambridge history of science. Vol. 6: The Modern biological and earth sciences, red. P. J. Bowler, J. V. Pickstone, Cambridge University Press, New York 2009

2. Natural Selection. Revisiting its Explanatory Role in Evolutionary Biology, red.. R. Delisle, Springer, Lethbridge 2021

3. Crowe M. J., Dowd M. F., The extraterrestrial life debate from Antiquity to 1900, w: Astrobiology, History, and Society, red. D. A. Vakoch, Springer, 2013

4. Bowler P. J., Evolution. The history of an idea, University of California

Press, Berkeley – Los Angeles – London 1989

5. Hull D. L., Darwin and his critics. The reception of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by the Scientific Community, The University of Chicago Press, London, Chicago 1973

6. Urbanek A. Jedno istnieje tylko zwierzę... Myśli przewodnie biologii porównawczej, Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii, PAN, 2007

7. Wagner, M. J. Interpretacje rozwoju biologii ewolucyjnej na przełomie XIX i XX wieku. Warszawa, Liberi Libr 2020.

ECTS [1 ECTS = 30 (25) hours]:

- participation in the lecture: 30 hrs.

- preparation to pass: 60 hours

-preparation for lectures, reading texts: 60 hours.

-consultations - 0-30 hours

Total of hours (on average): 180 [180/30 (25) = 6]

Number of ECTS: 6

The main method will be problem-solving lectures and lecture-discussion.

Knowledge:

- 2 (ndst..): The student does not know the basic terms, concepts, and theories discussed in the course

- 3 (dst.): The student knows the basic terms, concepts, and theories related to 19th-century philosophy, but is not able to discuss in detail those issues in their historical context

- 4 (db.): The student identifies the philosophical problems of 19th-century natural sciences and discusses correctly selected issues in the field of philosophy and history of science

- 5 (bdb.): The student is well versed in the issues of 19th philosophy of nature, and can connect them with modern philosophical discussions

Skills

- 2 (ndst..): The student is not able to interpret and compare the main problems in the field of philosophy and the history of science

- 3 (dst.): The student is able to refer to some of the issues related to the philosophy of nature, but cannot connect them with the historical period in which they were formed, or with the thinkers who dealt with those issues

- 4 (db.): The student is able to correctly indicate and explain the historical relations between the problems of the philosophy of nature and the development of natural sciences in the 19th century

- 5 (bdb.): The student is able to critically respond to the discussed issues in the field of philosophy and history of natural sciences, as well as take his own position on specific issues and justify them correctly

Competences:

The student is aware of the historical roots of contemporary philosophical problems related to the theory of science. Students have knowledge of the development of natural sciences in the 19th century and its philosophical connotations.

The method of assessment is an oral exam.

Other details will be provided during the course.