Università Roma Tre

THE COURSE CONCERNS A SERIES OF SEMINARS AND DISCUSSIONS ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE; IT STARTS WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE METHODS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (PERFORMANCE, VALIDATION), SEEN AS A CONTROLLED INVESTIGATION OF THE NATURAL PHENOMENOLOGY. THEN THE COURSE HEXAMINS A SERIES OF BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES WHICH NEED A PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THEIR FULL COMPREHENSION: IN PARTICULAR THE QUESTION “WHAT IS LIFE?”; WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEORY OF AUTOPOIESIS; THEN THE DIALECTIC INTERPLAY BETWEEN CONTINGENCY AND DETERMINISM IN THE ORIGIN OF LIFE AND BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION; THE QUESTION OF FINALITY IN THE PLANS OF EVOLUTION; THE DISCUSSION ON THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN; THE NOTION OF EMERGENT PROPERTIES IN THE BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURES.