I intend to use classical books and stories to explore conceptual topics on Philosophy of Sciences. Can anyone suggest some references?
For sure, one trustful source is the works by J. L. Borges. There you can safely find texts about time and space, knowledge and possibilities, reality and nature, and many others.
A bit more subtle, is of course the Alexandria Quartet, by L. Durrell, a book in which you can find a secure bridge toward quantum physics. In fact, there is a Ph.D. thesis about that link.
For sure, one trustful source is the works by J. L. Borges. There you can safely find texts about time and space, knowledge and possibilities, reality and nature, and many others.
A bit more subtle, is of course the Alexandria Quartet, by L. Durrell, a book in which you can find a secure bridge toward quantum physics. In fact, there is a Ph.D. thesis about that link.
Luiz, first I must confess to not being a philosophy or literature teacher. I can only speak to my own philosophical thinking in regards to the philosophy of science. I recommend "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley because it offers a view on government and how scientific knowledge may be misused for power. I hope this is useful for you.
Greetings Luiz Henrique Santana,
One could certainly not go wrong with the book, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. To give an example, there's a line in there that I may not be quoting directly, but it's one that I always kept in mind while teaching science. "Any scientist who cannot explain his science to a twelve-year-old is a charlatan." It's definitely a very good book about science gone wrong.
Also, I would highly recommend one of Jack London's greatest works of fictional storytelling, "The Sea Wolf." Not only is it a superbly interesting read but some of the best philosophical debates in literature take place in that book in the midst of adventures on the high seas. The critics of the day claimed that the antagonist of that book was the finest character ever written.
In the realm of excellent literature for the philosophy of science, I would also utilize some popular short stories. One of the first that comes to mind is "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin. It talks about the collision that can sometimes occur between science and humanity, and surprisingly, how sometimes (sadly) science is the only choice. It's a one-of-a-kind short story that gives students plenty to debate about afterwards.
You also couldn't go wrong by selecting a book of short stories by Philip K. Dick. You'd be amazed over how many of the greatest intelligent science fiction movies have been based on those short stories, such as "Blade Runner," which serves as only one of many prime examples.
Happy reading!
Cheers,
Allen
Hello again Luiz Henrique Santana,
Two more titles came to mind the split-second I pressed "Add your answer." Perhaps Michael Crichton's most scientific yet entertaining work of fiction is "Timeline," which may do a better job of presenting a vision of the frontiers of quantum physics than any other novel out there. (Besides being a science teacher, I also formerly taught literature.)
There's also a children's book that is written so intelligently, it is generally loved by adults as well. The book that comes to mind is "Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle.
All the best,
Allen
I strongly recomend Solaris by Stanislaus Lem - approx. spelling!
(Tarkovsky's film is quite philosophical - not the Clooney version)
When I read the book 35 years ago I recall being excited about how many deep themes from the philosophy of science it raised! And I had recently studied philosophy of science!! I can't remember the details now!
By the way alongside Brave New world - there is 1984. But neither treats philosophy of science! Alongside Faust you could put Frankenstein - this raises some issues from the philosophy of science! Mostly ethical - not epistemological!
In response to Jae, Sophie's World is a marvellous book because it makes complex ideas so accessible, particularly young people.
Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities:
City archetypes derived from inductive reasoning as a means to make deductions about real cities.
“I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.”
― Albert Einstein, On Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and Aphorisms
I believe you may be interested in the novel An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. You will find characters that actually are historical figures like the mathematician John Wallis, the philosopher John Locke and the scientist Robert Boyle.
A contrast portrayed in the novel is, on one hand, a philosophy based on ancient and medieval knowledge, and, on the other hand, the scientific method that was beginning to be applied in physics, chemistry and medicine
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is an easy read - 7th or 8th grade level, but used in many graduate courses. The book addresses global sustainability issues. In it, "the teacher" elucidates our "cultural mythology" (analogous to bias in science) as interfering with an accurate interpretation of clear scientific evidence. This book challenges our worldview. Think of the way our cultural worldview has been, and continues to be challenged by the theory of evolution. You'll enjoy this book.
The best textbook I ever read is A.F.Chalmers's mastepiece "What is This Thing Calles Science". The author tries to hold the most objective stand against the main trends in philosophy of science.I strongly recommend the book and use it in my current teaching
One more absolutely necessary book is Joyce's Ulysses. The very fact of a book that happens in just one day challenges all normal read nags about time.
Well, voilà encore one more book: J. Cortazar's Hopsotch, which is fantastic for learning/teachin non-linearity in the philosophy of science.
Odeysseus Homer. It shows that we need to look for more until we have really found what we are after.
I agree with some titles mentioned above: Cat's Cradle, for example, is a good one.
Overall, one should first of all look for utopian/antiutopian literature and for sci fi.
In utopias one should look at "New Atlantis" by Francis Bacon, while the most interestring antiutopia from the sci-tech point of view is "Brave new world" also mentioned above.
In Sci Fi: Stanislaw Lem's works are classics (Solaris, Summa Technologiae), some questions are also tackled by Ray Bradbury and Strugatsky brothers's sci fi (Far Rainbow, Definitely Maybe etc. and Monday Begins on Saturday for some comic interpretations of scientific concepts).
Though it's mostly the social and political side of the philosophy of science that is explored in the fiction.
In common with Professor Trufanova, her suggestion of where science and philosophy meet in literature are often best seen in utopian/antiutopian classics, which brings to mind these titles:
"Men Like Gods" by H.G. Wells, which is a very philosophical view of what might be wrong with utopia from the point of view of people from outside that utopia. It may also represent the first novel concerning multiple/alternate dimensions.
With a slight stretch of the imagination, I would also classify Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End" along those same lines (utopia for the aliens and children). One of the earliest of Clarke's attempts at novels that might also qualify in the utopian realm would be "Earthlight," which is actually an expansion of an earlier short story by the same author and relates a scientific struggle for power between the Earth and the Moon's colonies. Along those same lines, there is also Robert Heinlein's, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."
A scientific novel classic that has yet to receive mention on this thread is the world's earliest book on the topic of genetic manipulation, which represents a different type of attempt to create a utopia, and which certainly has major philosophical implications. The particular title in question would be, "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells.
Two excellent anti-utopian novels with a philosophical scientific angle would be Pierre Boulle's, "Planet of the Apes," and George Orwell's classic, "1984." Altogether, we have a lot of profound reading on this thread.
Cheers,
Allen
Literature is mostly not read and studied by scientists. Although many authors have pointed to their research in science, it is not always understood and sometimes it is really hermetic closed.
The disappearing of time and space is an inheritance from the quantum physics and sometimes this is interpreted as fantastic and magic-realistic. What about Samuel Beckett, philologists often missed the scientific dimension. of his oeuvre. Also Johan Daisne the magic-realist from Belgium, has read what was going on in science and translated this in his novels, but I never could read about such interpretation.
I also think about Calvino, Nabokov, ‘We’ from Zamyatin; they all did a study about imagination, consciousness, explaining and hiding at the same time. The poet Marina Tzvetaeva can also be mentioned, she explained very well what poetry means and what it means to be a poet.
It's a very important question.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Education
- Higher Education