Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2025 - PHIL 804 G100

Selected Topics in Philosophy of Science (5)

Science and Values

Class Number: 3338

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

    May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Fri, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

COURSE DETAILS:

Selected Topics in Philosophy of Science: Science and Values

Important note regarding enrollment: All seats are reserved for philosophy graduate students. Philosophy honours students can access enrollment into this course by contacting the Philosophy Advisor (philcomm@sfu.ca). Enrollments from graduate students in other departments will be considered only upon submission of the Graduate Course Add Form, and with instructor's permission. All such enrollments will be done in or after the first week of classes.

NOTE: This seminar is offered as intersession, with 6 hours of class per week, from May to 12 to June 20.

There is a view of science, dating at least back to the Vienna Circle, where it is supposed to be value-free, and where values could only compromise the integrity of science. Earlier examples of values in science were identified where background presuppositions of racism and sexism were found to have influenced the knowledge output of science, or in discriminatory work environments for people with marginalized identities in the science. In the intervening decades, a lot of work on various ways in which values either do, could, or should bear on science has been done. This course will focus on this new wave of work looking at how science and values are connected and interrelate. This includes: ways in which scientific work is improved by incorporation of various values, including but not limited to values such as those involved with inductive risk, and how recent work on incorporation of Indigenous and local forms of knowledge with academic, governmental, or corporate science should be approached. There will be some deep dives on case studies, such as transdisciplinary philosophy of science applied in the British Columbian context and fields such as ethnoecology. There will also be some discussions of how policy fits into the relationships between sciences and values, and how implementation of policy in concrete circumstances of scientific work fits into this nexus of science, values, and policy.




COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Successful completion of this course will satisfy the "M&E Stream" or "Value Stream" distribution requirement toward the MA degree for philosophy graduate students. Students using it for one of these streams will need to commit to this by halfway through the term, and write a term paper in that stream.

Grading

  • Reading precis (more or less weekly) 30%
  • Term Paper: includes a detailed outline prior to writing the full term paper 70%

NOTES:

There will be several parts to the participation grade, and a final term paper of original research developed by the student.

REQUIREMENTS:

The course has a "No AI" policy.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:


All course materials will be available for download as PDFs through the SFU Library

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.