PHIL 2301A

Introduction to the Philosophy of Science

Winter 2024

Course Outline

I. Admin

Instructor: Gabriele Contessa

Office Hours: Wednesday, 2:05pm–2:55pm or by appointment

Zoom Link to Virtual Office: See Admin section in Brightspace

Zoom Link to Virtual Classroom: See Admin section in Brightspace

E-mail: gabriele_contessa@carleton.ca

II. Description
Philosophical issues arising out of the attempt to understand the world scientifically. Topics may include: scientific methodology, revolution, observation, explanation, causation, induction, reduction, the difference between natural and social scientific understanding, realism, instrumentalism, constructivism.

III. Prerequisites/Preclusions

A course in philosophy or second-year standing.

IV. Texts

All other readings will be accessible through Brightspace.

V. Evaluation

Final Exam (35%)

Mid-Term Exam (25%)

Attendance & Participation (20%)

Two Quizzes (10% each)

Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the Faculty Dean. This means that grades submitted by the instructor may be subject to revision. No grades are final until they have been approved by the Dean.

VI. Course Policies

Attendance and Participation (A&P). Class attendance is required and it is critical to your success in this course. If your circumstances are preventing you from attending class regularly, please inform me as soon as possible. 1/3 of your A&P grade will be based on your attendance (tracked through Zoom logs), 1/3 of your A&P grade will be based on your participation on Poll Everywhere polls (see Polls below for more information), and the remaining 1/3 of your A&P grade will be based on correct answers to Checkpoint Questions (which are marked by a ‘[C]’ before the question). Checkpoint Questions focus on one of the required readings for that portion of the course or on concepts and arguments that have already been discussed in the course. Please note that, while asking questions and making comments in class is welcome, these will not contribute to your A&P grade. However, answering questions that I ask during lectures will contribute to your A&P grade in addition to the other components. Please also note that, since compiling the grades for the whole class is a very resource-intensive process, the A&P grade in Brightspace will be updated only twice throughout the term (once after midterm and once at the end of the term). However, given that your A&P grade is exclusively based on information available to you, you are encouraged to keep track of your own attendance, poll participation, and poll results throughout the term.

Please note that failing to attend a class, or respond to a poll will result in a zero on the relevant component of A&P grade (unless this is due to circumstances beyond your control (e.g., illness or family emergency)).

If circumstances beyond your control prevent you from attending a class or responding to a poll, please contact me as soon as possible by email.

Exams and Quizzes. All exams and quizzes will be held online on Brightspace. With the exception of the Final Exam (which will be held during the Exam Period), they will be held during class time. Please note that all dates are tentative and they are subject to change.

Please note that exams may be selected for an “oral defense” at the discretion of the instructor. An oral defense is a one-on-one meeting with the instructor discussing the content of the answers in your exam in relation to the course. If your exam is selected for an oral defense, your grade on that exam will be largely determined by your ability to discuss its content in the meeting. If your exam is selected for an oral defense, you will be assigned a date and a time to meet the instructor for about 10-15 minutes (please use the Office Hours Zoom link for this meeting). If you cannot attend the meeting at the assigned date and time, please notify the instructor as soon as possible to reschedule. You will not receive a grade for your exam until you have performed an oral defense. Please note that, if you fail to meet with the instructor in your allotted time, you will receive a 0% on that exam.

Please note that some quiz questions and some exam questions might require you to show your work. You will have to do so by submitting a photo of your work in the Assignment section on Brightspace. The photo needs to be submitted before the end of the exam/quiz time. Please note that students who fail to show their work for a question that requires it will receive 0% on that question and that students whose work does not support their answer or includes mistakes will receive a reduced credit on that question.

Please note that failing to take an exam/quiz will result in a zero on that exam/quiz (unless this is due to circumstances beyond your control (e.g., illness or family emergency)).

If circumstances beyond your control prevent you from taking an exam/quiz, please contact me as soon as possible by email.

Polls. In this course, Poll Everywhere will be used to poll students and ask questions about the course content. You can respond to in-class polls using a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, or any other device with an internet connection. Alternatively, you can submit your answers through SMS (charges from your provider may apply). You should be registered automatically for the course, but please make sure to always use your Cmail e-mail address (which is, typically, yourfirstnameyourlastname@cmail.carleton.ca) when signing into Poll Everywhere. All active polls for the course can be found at PollEv.com/contessa.

Academic Integrity. You are responsible for ensuring that you understand the nature of academic offenses (such as plagiarism and unauthorized collaboration), as defined in the Undergraduate Calendar, and to avoid both committing them and aiding or abetting academic offenses perpetrated by other students. Please be aware that I am bound to report any suspected academic offense directly to the Office of the Dean.

The University Senate defines plagiarism as “presenting, whether intentionally or not, the ideas, expression of ideas or work of others as one’s own.” This can include: reproducing or paraphrasing portions of someone else’s published or unpublished material, regardless of the source, and presenting these as one’s own without proper citation or reference to the original source; submitting a take-home examination, essay, laboratory report or other assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else; using ideas or direct, verbatim quotations, or paraphrased material, concepts, or ideas without appropriate acknowledgment in any academic assignment; using another’s data or research findings; failing to acknowledge sources through the use of proper citations when using another’s works and/or failing to use quotation marks; handing in "substantially the same piece of work for academic credit more than once without prior written permission of the course instructor in which the submission occurs." Plagiarism is a serious offence that cannot be resolved directly by the course’s instructor. The Associate Dean of the Faculty conducts a rigorous investigation, including an interview with the student, when an instructor suspects a piece of work has been plagiarized. Penalties are not trivial. They can include a final grade of "F" for the course.

Copyright. Carleton University is committed to compliance in all copyright matters. Noncompliance is a violation of the Canadian Copyright Act. In addition to any actions that might be taken by any copyright owner or its licensing agent, the University will take steps against any breach of this policy. In Canada, copyright for a work is given automatically to the creator of the work. The work does not need to be marked or declared as copyrighted in order to be copyrighted. The majority of works in Canada are copyrighted. It is important for students to understand and respect copyright. Copyright determines your usage rights for a particular work, which includes textbooks, web pages, videos and images, both electronic and hard copy. Students may not photocopy entire or major portions of books or other works, even if it is only for their personal use. Fair dealing makes some allowances for copying small portions of works. See Carleton's Fair Dealing Policy for more information. If journal articles or portions of works are available through the library, either as hard copies or electronically, students may make a single copy for their personal use. Students may not distribute copies of works that are under copyright. For more information, please see the Carleton's Fair Dealing Policy and the library's copyright website: www.library.carleton.ca/copyright.

VII. Course Calendar

Please note that the course calendar is provisional and subject to change.

Please check this Course Outline regularly for updates.

Department of Philosophy and Carleton University Policies (Fall/Winter 2022-23)

Assignments:

Please follow your professor’s instructions on how assignments will be handled electronically.  There will be NO hard copies placed in the essay box this coming year.

Evaluation:

Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the Faculty Dean.  This means that grades submitted by the instructor may be subject to revision.  No grades are final until they have been approved by the Dean.

Deferrals for Term Work:

If students are unable to complete term work because of illness or other circumstances beyond their control, they should contact their course instructor no later than three working days of the due date.  Normally, any deferred term work will be completed by the last day of the term.  Term work cannot be deferred by the Registrar.

Deferrals for Final Exams:

Students are expected to be available for the duration of a course including the examination period.  Occasionally, students encounter circumstances beyond their control where they may not be able to write a final examination or submit a take-home examination. Examples of this would be a serious illness or the death of a family member.  If you miss a final examination and/or fail to submit a take-home examination by the due date, you may apply for a deferral no later than three working days after the original due date (as per the University Regulations in Section 4.3 of the Undergraduate Calendar). Visit the Registrar’s Office for further information.

Plagiarism:

It is the responsibility of each student to understand the meaning of ‘plagiarism’ as defined in the Undergraduate or Graduate Calendars, and to avoid both committing plagiarism and aiding or abetting plagiarism by other students.  (Section 10.1 of the Undergraduate Calendar Academic Regulations)

Academic Accommodation:

You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term:

§  Pregnancy or religious obligation: write to your professor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details visit the EDC website.

§  Academic accommodations for students with disabilities: The Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities (PMC) provides services to students with Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/mental health disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chronic medical conditions, and impairments in mobility, hearing, and vision. If you have a disability requiring academic accommodations in this course, please contact PMC at 613-520-6608 or pmc@carleton.ca for a formal evaluation. If you are already registered with the PMC, contact your PMC coordinator to send your Letter of Accommodation at the beginning of the term, and no later than two weeks before the first in-class test or exam requiring accommodation.  After requesting accommodation from PMC, meet with your professor to ensure accommodation arrangements are made.

§  Survivors of Sexual Violence:  As a community, Carleton University is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working and living environment where sexual violence will not be tolerated, and where survivors are supported through academic accommodations as per Carleton’s Sexual Violence Policy.

§  Accommodation for Student Activities:  Carleton University recognizes the substantial benefits, both to the individual student and for the university, that result from a student participating in activities beyond the classroom experience. Reasonable accommodation must be provided to students who compete or perform at the national or international level. Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist.

Important Dates:

Sept. 7                   Classes start.

Sept. 20                Last day for registration and course changes for fall term and fall/winter (two-term) courses.

Sept. 30                Last day for entire fee adjustment when withdrawing from fall term or two-term courses. Withdrawals after this date will result in a permanent notation of WDN on the official transcript.

Oct. 10                  Statutory holiday. University closed.

Oct. 24-28            Fall Break – no classes.

Nov. 25                 Last day for summative tests or examinations, or formative tests or examinations totaling more than 15% of the final grade, before the official examination period.

Dec. 9                    Last day of fall term classes. Classes follow a Monday schedule. Last day for academic withdrawal from fall term courses. Last day for handing in term work and the last day that can be specified by a course instructor as a due date for term work for a fall term course.

Dec. 10-22           Final examinations for fall term courses and mid-term examinations in two-term courses. Examinations are normally held all seven days of the week.

Dec. 22                  All take-home examinations are due.

Jan. 9                     Classes begin.

Jan. 20                   Last day for registration and course changes in the winter term.

Jan. 31                   Last day for a full fee adjustment when withdrawing from winter term courses or from the winter portion of two-term courses. Withdrawals after this date will result in a permanent notation of WDN on the official transcript.

Feb. 20                  Statutory holiday. University closed.

Feb. 20-24           Winter Break – no classes.

Mar. 15                 Last day for academic withdrawal from fall/winter and winter courses.

Mar. 29                 Last day for summative tests or examinations, or formative tests or examinations totaling more than 15% of the final grade, in winter term or fall/winter courses before the official examination period.

Apr. 7                     Statutory holiday.  University closed.

Apr. 12                  Last day of two-term and winter term classes. Classes follow a Friday schedule. Last day for handing in term work and the last day that can be specified by a course instructor as a due date for two-term and for winter term courses.

Apr. 13-14           No classes or examinations take place.

Apr. 15-27           Final examinations for winter term and two-term courses. Examinations are normally held all seven days of the week.

Apr. 27                  All take-home examinations are due.  

Addresses:

Department of Philosophy:

www.carleton.ca/philosophy

520-2110

Registrar’s Office:                

www.carleton.ca/registrar

520-3500

Academic Advising Centre:                                  

www.carleton.ca/academicadvising

520-7850

Writing Services:

http://www.carleton.ca/csas/writing-services/

520-3822

MacOdrum Library              

http://www.library.carleton.ca/

520-2735