DESCRIPTION

Philosophy of science as applied to research in administration.  Topics include the nature and current problems of epistemology, the development and role of theories, and the relationship between theory, methodology, and empirical data.

OBJECTIVES

To stimulate SBPM doctoral students to reflect upon the nature of "the process of inquiry."  To aid doctoral students in developing ideas about the processes of inquiry which are appropriate to their chosen field of study.

REQUIREMENTS

The course is graded on a credit/no credit basis.  To receive credit, the requirements are 1) three short papers of about three double-spaced type-written pages on topics stimulated by course readings and discussions; 2)  participation in class meetings, including leading the discussion in at least one class; 3) participation in e-mail discussions with members of the class; and 4) a paper about the relevance of philosophy to one's chosen field.

INSTRUCTOR

Stuart A. Umpleby, Department of Management Science, 2101 F Street NW Suite 301 (enter through Suite 201),  tel:  994-1642, fax:  994-43081, e-mail:  umpleby@gwu.edu, www.gwu.edu/~umpleby.  Send correspondence for the class to asc@gwu.edu.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Class notes from Follett's Academic Publishing. 

Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.  University of Chicago Press, 1970.

 Miller, David (ed.). Popper Selections. Princeton University Press, 1985.

 Van Dorn, Charles.  A History of Knowledge.  New York:  Ballantine, 1991.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

Morgan, Gareth (ed.). Beyond Method:  Strategies for Social Research.  Sage Publications, 1983.

 Reese, W.L.  ed.).  Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion.  Humanities Press, 1980.

 Soros, George.  The Alchemy of Finance.  John Wiley, 1994.

ASSIGNMENTS

1.   Introduction

        Send self-description via email

 2.   Kuhn, whole book

 3.   Popper, Chapters 1-5

            Umpleby, "World Population:  Still on Course for Doomsday"

            Umpleby, "The Scientific Revolution in Demography"

 4.   Popper, Chapters 6-10

            Umpleby, "The Science of Cybernetics and the Cybernetics of   Science"

            First short paper due

 5.   Popper, Chapters 11-15

            Umpleby, "Strategies for Winning Acceptance of Second Order Cybernetics"      

6.   Popper, Part III

            Umpleby, "The Cybernetics of Conceptual Systems"

 7.   Popper, Part IV

            Umpleby, "A Preliminary Inventory of Theories Available to Guide the Reform of Socialist Societies"

            Second short paper due

 8.   Van Doren, Preface, Chapters 1-3

            Umpleby, "Comparing Conceptual Systems"

 9.   Van Doren, Chapters 4-7

 10.  Van Doren, Chapters 8-11

            Title and abstract of final paper due

 11.  Van Doren, Chapters 12-15

 12.  Soros, Parts I, II, and III

            Third short paper due

 13.  Soros, Parts IV, V and Epilogue

 14.  Discussion of student papers

 15.  Discussion of student papers

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