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Beginning of course announcements:
1. Please consult the Compass ('2g') page often (compass2g.illinois.edu). Please let Charles know if you ever have any difficulties with Compass.
2. Please be sure read the information sheet, handed out on the first day.
What is this course
about?
From the textbooks:
A more contemporary view
is that philosophy's role is to serve, not as some ground for the sciences or
as some extension of them, but as their critical observer. The idea here is
that the particular scientific disciplines use concepts and methods. The
relationships of the concepts to one another, although implicit in their use
in science, may fail to be explicitly clear to us. It would then be the job
of philosophy of science to clarify these conceptual relationships.
(Sklar, Philosophy of Physics, p. 2)
My present endeavor is
rather to present in non-technical language the conceptual revolutions
that the scientific community had to undergo in order to be able to accept
'modern physics'.
(Rohrlich, From Paradox to
Reality, p. viii)
More specifically,
what
topics will be covered?
- The transition from the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic
picture of the universe, to Copernicanism
- The birth of modern mechanics and the
philosophical issues raised by it.
- The theory of electromagnetism, and its awkward
coexistence with classical mechanics.
- The special theory of relativity and its
"paradoxes."
- General relativity. Philosophical implications.
- Quantum mechanics. How might we make sense of
it?
- Irreversibility and the "arrow of
time."
- Current problems in cosmology and elementary
physics.
See the schedule with
reading assignments.
Are there any unifying
themes?
Roughly: "What can
science do for a theory of knowledge, and what can a theory of knowledge do
for science?" For a somewhat longer discussion of the themes, go here.
Who is teaching it?
Professor:
Philip W. Phillips (2121
ESB, 244-2003, email)
Office hours:Tuesday, 11:00-12:00pm, Thursday, 2:00-3:00pm, or whenever my door is open.
Teaching Assistants:
Karl Decker (email); Wednesday, 3-4p, & by appointment (390N Loomis).
Charles Byrne; contact by email.
Vasilica Crecea; contact by email.
What is the structure
of the course?
To submit homework, view your grades...
view documents not on the website, and so on, please log-in to Compass (compass2g.illinois.edu).
Lectures:
Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM, in 144
Loomis.
I will not lecture for 75
or 90 minutes straight. There will be discussions, either initiated by your
questions and comments, or by mine, or both.
Discussion section
On hold for now. We may
have some later in the semester, as the situation warrants.
Homework
Homework assignments will be every 1-2 weeks for the first 3/4 of the
course. They will be short, 500-750 word (~2 pages, but go by word
count) essays.
They will be graded both for content and grammar (this is a composition-II
course) and returned the following week or sooner. Grading of Homework: All
homework will be graded out of a total of 20 points. Both the grammar and the
content will be graded. For the first 3 assignments, grammar will count for
60% (12 points) and the content for 40% (8 points). In the remaining 4
homework assignments, the point distribution will be reversed: 12 points for
content and 8 points for grammar. Note that the grading of the grammar will be
strictly quantitative. A single point will be deducted for each grammatical
error including spelling, so please use spell-check. In the first 3
assignments, points will be deducted until 12 errors are found. Beyond that,
no deductions will be made. Hence, there will be no negative scores in
grammar. A "grammatical error" will be defined as anything that is not in line
with the usage in a standard handbook of English -- subject-verb
disagreements, run-on sentences, two sentences joined together by a comma,
misplaced semicolons, non-parallel constructions, misplaced commas, etc., are
all instances of grammatical errors. You should consult your favorite text on
this matter; however, a few include Strunk and
White, Elements of Style, and Willis' A Brief Handbook of English. Please read
this comment
about written assignments.
Exams
There will be a final
exam on Thursday, 9 May, 7p-10p (in the same place as lecture, 144 Loomis). It will comprise approximately four essay questions about the conceptual issues raised
during the semester. The exam will be open book & open notes.
Term paper
(Students who are interested in
the topics but need only 2 hours credit without Comp II credit should take 420.)
You are to write a
critical essay of about 2500-4000 words (~8-12 pages, but go by word count) on some aspect
of the interpretation of physical theories. The topic should reflect your
interests and make use of your background. You should develop your topic into
a coherent presentation of ideas for which you argue clearly and
convincingly. We do not expect you to do groundbreaking work on the
foundations of science, but you must not merely summarize or restate some
other author's views.
The term paper has a
series of required deadlines. See the information page for more details. Also
please refer to the general comments about written assignments.
Books
For Hulon Willis' A Brief Handbook of English, please log-in to Compass.
Required:
- Philosophy of Physics , by L. Sklar
(Purchase at textbooksnow.com or Amazon.com)
- From Paradox to Reality, by F. Rohrlich
(Purchase at textbooksnow.com or Amazon.com)
These two books come close
to providing a text. Rohrlich is somewhat more
accessible, but downplays the interesting problems of quantum
interpretations.
- The
Character of Physical Law,
by R. P. Feynman (a set of brief, entertaining lectures that give a feel for
how the basic principles look to a thoughtful working physicist)
Recommended:
- The Copernican Revolution, by T. S. Kuhn (gives a feel for how one major
change in physical outlook occurred)
- The Sleepwalkers, by A. Koestler
(provides an accurate historical critique of the key players in the
development of cosmology from the Babylonian times through Newton. There is no hero worship here in contrast to
the work of Kuhn. )
- Quantum Reality, by N. Herbert (an occasionally mushy account
of why quantum mechanics is disturbing)
- Relativity, the Special and General Theory , by A. Einstein. (a very accessible introduction
to relativity)
- A Brief History of Time, by S. W. Hawking (hits many of the high
points of modern physics in a lively fashion)
All of these books, as
well as others
relevant to the course and useful for the term papers, are on
reserve in the Grangier Library or the Undergraduate library, or both.
How will the course be
graded?
For 419 students:
Homework will contribute
40% of your grade,
the term paper will contribute 35%,
and the final exam will contribute 25%.
For 420 students:
Homework will contribute 60% of your grade
and the final exam will contribute 40%.
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