For this week, we will first consider a very important case in the development of modern science: the role of the experiment and the kind of knowledge produced thereby.
Shapin, S. (1984). Pump and circumstance: Robert Boyle’s literary technology. Social studies of science, 14(4), 481-520.
There is much to consider here. What conventions of contemporary science come into view here? What do the prevailing social circumstances (interruption of the monarchy, civil war, restoration) have to do with the character of the debate? What is the social character of the knowledge that is thus brought forth?
After immersing ourselves in this historical example, your task this week is to consider the much more recent phenomenon of the “mirror neuron”. You need to inform yourself about its “discovery”, its interpretation, the move from “mirror neuron” to “mirror system”, the scepticism that obtains around the concept (if you can find it!). Mirrors are very thought-provoking and this deliberation could go many ways.
If you have met it, Richard Rorty’s book “Philosophy_and_the_Mirror_of_Nature” is relevant, but so are many other threads we could follow. What is the “mirror test” and what does it purport to show?
Interdisciplinary Challenges 