VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
Hasok Chang's Pragmatic Philosophy of Science
Last Updated: 2026-06-01 11:33:17
Abstract
Hasok Chang's presents a new pragmatist philosophy of science, focusing on practical coherence and promoting pluralistic and anti-reductionst views of reality and truth. We will discuss and evaluate this philosophy and its implications. At the end of the course, we will discuss Nancy Cartwright's non-reductionist and pluralistic philosophy to complement that of Chang.
Objective
The students will be able to discuss questions of realism, truth, coherence and practice in reflecting on modern science. The students will be able to critically evaluate philosophical arguments in this context.
Content
Hasok Chang's "realism for realistic people" presents a new pragmatist philosophy of science, focusing on questions of practical coherence. According to this philosophy, what makes a scientific claim “true” or a scientific object “real” is not their correspondence to a human-independent state of affairs, but the fact that they enable what Chang calls coherent activity. The book details the problems of the philosophical view that it rejects and explains the advantages of the view that it promotes. Along the way, the notions of truth and reality become pluralistic and irreducible to a uniform ontological ground. At the end of the course, we will discuss some of the work of philosopher Nancy Cartwright. She also proposes a pluralistic and anti-reductionist philosophical view but supports it in a different way. She focuses on the ways in which the laws of nature “lie” – that is, the fact that they only work if they are restricted to such an extent that their scope is almost empty, and that they fail to inform us on how they combine with each other or lead to practicable approximations. For Cartwright, scientific laws are guides for understanding and intervening in reality but fail as valid descriptions of reality. We will study both philosophical approaches in their context, evaluate their claims concerning scientific practices, explore the worldviews they promote, and discuss the extent to which we can use them as guides to scientific work.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS , DR , MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
- Max Places
- 40
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar | Hasok Chang's Pragmatic Philosophy of Science |
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
-
Wissenschaft im Kontext (Science in Perspective) (In Kursen aus dem Programm “Wissenschaft im Kontext” lernen Studierende, die MINT Fächer der ETH aus der Perspektive der Geistes-, Sozial- und Staatswissenschaften zu reflektieren. Nur die in diesem Abschnitt aufgelisteten Fächer können als "Wissenschaft im Kontext" angerechnet werden.)
-
Typ A: Förderung allgemeiner Reflexionskompetenz (WiK-Kurse werden für Bachelorstudierende nach dem ersten Studienjahr sowie für alle Masterstudierende und Doktorierende empfohlen. Alle WiK-Kurse sind in Typ A gelistet. Bei den unter Typ B aufgeführten Kursen handelt es sich lediglich um Belegungsempfehlungen für bestimmte Departemente.)
-
-
-
-
Doktorat Geistes-, Sozial- und Staatswissenschaften (Mehr Informationen unter: )