Are our best scientific theories approximately true? Do the objects postulated by these theories exist? Or are the theories merely useful tools for calculating phenomena? Or, perhaps, some other solution of such questions can be offered?
In this class we will read and discuss mostly somewhat recent literature dealing with questions like these. Most of these texts are only available in English, and the class will be primarily conducted in English, too. However, students may write and submit their assignments in German as well, and, if necessary, more mixed-language in class discussions are possible.
We will look at such authors as Hilary Putnam, Stathis Psillos, Larry Laudan, Bas van Fraassen, James Ladyman, Don Ross and others.
- Kursleiter:in: Anton Kabeshkin