History and philosophy of biology

Course goals

Learning goals
In this course you will study and analyze the central theories and concepts of modern biology from an historical and philosophical perspective. In addition, you will develop the necessary skills to understand literature from the field of history and philosophy of science and to conduct scientific and philosophical discussions. 

The final objective of the class is to provide the student with an historical understanding of modern biology’s theories and methods as well as a critical perspective on the epistemological and ontological assumptions underlying current biology. The class also offers different perspectives on biological problems and invites students to connect these with current societal challenges.

At the end of the course you will be able to:

• Describe and interpret the most important historical developments of the biological sciences in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and to contextualize modern biological knowledge,
• Understand the most important philosophical debates concerning central biological concepts and theories.

Skills

• Read and understand historical and philosophical texts,
• To use critical thinking in scientific and philosophical discussions,
• To present orally philosophical and historical arguments
• To write academically.

 

Skills	Part of the course?	Explicitely examined?
Writing	X	X
Presenting	X	X
Data handling
Practical research skills
General research skills	X	X
Co-operation	X	X
Critical thinking	X	X
Career orientation
Interdisciplinarity	X	X

 

Content

Entry requirements
The course is accessible to students in the third year of study or advanced second year.

Study path
This course is of interest to biology students with historical and philosophical interests and to all students considering pursuing a master's degree in History and Philosophy of Science and Science Education and Communication. The course is part of the minor History and Philosophy of Natural Sciences.

Language
The course is entirely in English.

Content
The course consists of an integrated historical and a philosophical part. In the historical part, we will cover the period ca. 1900 until the present and concentrate on the development of biology as a separate scientific discipline, characterized by research programs that took shape over time. Topics include:

• Kant’s Critic of Judgment and the emergence of the teleological understanding of living beings,
• The Cuvier-Geoffroy debate and its influence in the development of Darwin’s theory of evolution,
• Darwin's theory of evolution,
• The rise of experimentalism in the nineteenth-century biology,
• The eclipse of Darwinism and discussion of neo-Lamarckism in early twentieth century,
• The emergence of the synthetic theory of evolution,
• The foundations of genetics and molecular biology,
• The postgenomic turn in 21th century.

The historical part ties in with several of the themes covered in the philosophical part. Some of the philosophical debates discussed in the class are:

• Philosophy of biology and its relation to biology,
• The central concepts of Darwin’s theory of evolution,
• Adaptationist debate,
• Species, genes, race, classification, and taxonomies,
• Causality and explanation in biology,
• Experimental biology and epistemic objects.

Work formats
Lectures: 1 meeting per week
Tutorial: 1 meeting per week
Preparation: For lectures and tutorials students are expected to have carefully read the required material and to complete a weekly assignment during the tutorial meeting. The weekly assignment is a short quiz related to the material read for each week.  


Grading & assessment
To pass this course, a minimum of 5,5 is mandatory. Your grade is calculated by the following components:

• Writing/oral assignments: 50%
• Group work/presentation: 20%
• Attendance, active participation in class and weekly assignments: 30%

Study material
A selection of book chapters and research articles will be provided on Brightspace.
Recommended (not obligatory):

• Okasha, S. (2019) Philosophy of biology. A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.