Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Head: Assoc. Prof. György Kampis

History

The Department of History and Philosophy of Science was formally established as an independent academic unit within the Faculty of Sciences of Loránd Eötvös University in 1994. Currently the Department consists of 7 tenured faculty and one permanent guest lecturer; 3 further lecturers are also affiliated with the department on a temporary basis. Of these 11 members 7 were appointed as Széchenyi Professors of Philosophy. Members of the Department typically have a degree both in one of the sciences and in philosophy, which is advantageous in view of the teaching profile of the Department: The Department offers about 30 undergraduate courses in the area of history and philosophy of science (one course being two 45 minute classes per week). By electing these courses students can meet the distribution requirements prescribed by state law: each science major has to take three courses outside the field of sciences; in particular, students majoring as science teachers have to take at least one course in the history of their science. The average number of students taking a course offered by the Department is between 900 and 1000 per term. The Department participates in several Ph.D. programs at the Faculty of Science.

Establishing the Department also was motivated by the aim of creating in Loránd Eötvös University a research unit with a profile in history, philosophy and foundations of science, interpreted mainly in the Anglo-Saxon analytic tradition. The Department has been successful in establishing itself as a center of research in Hungary in the discipline: its record in international publications in the field, its extensive international contacts, its cooperation with science and philosophy departments in the Eötvös and other Hungarian universities and the number of research grants awarded to members of the Department make the Department unique in the Hungarian university system.

Teaching

The Department offers service teaching for science students. Courses include introduction to the history of science, philosophy of science, cognitive science, epistemology, history of philosophy, as well as specialized topics like foundations of physics, philosophical logic, and many oders. 

Courses of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science:

Cognitive Science, An Introduction, Introduction to Philosophy of Science, Let’s Talk About Science, Argumentation Theory, English language texts in philosophy of science – reading seminar, Interpretations of probability, Introduction to quantum logic, Philosophy of Science, Foundations of physics semin, History of Natural Philosophy, History of Scientific Thinking. Part II., History of Philosophy. Part I. The History of Ancient Philosophy, History of Philosophy. Part II. The History of Medieval and Modern Philosophy, Seminars in Philosophy, Social and Cultural Implications of the Internet, A Short History of Existentialism, Philosophy in Beat, Pop and Rock Music, Seminar in History and Philosophy of Science for Students Before Diploma, The World Views in Science Fictions, History of Scientific Thinking. Part I., The problem of open future: chance, causality and determinism in physics I. II., The History of Atomic Bomb, The History of Positivism, The Short History of Physics, Empirism and Rationalism in the XVI-XIX. century Europe., The Greek Miracle: Evolution of the Greek Science between VII-III. century BC, Social theory, social history in XIX-XX. century, The Information Technological Revolution and Microelectronics – from yesterday to tomorrow, Introduction to the History of European Scientific Thinking, Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Problems in Philosophy of Science, Symmetry Science–art relations in a cultural-historical perspective: The natural and man-made world in an interdisciplinary approach, Modelling Nervous System, On the History of Research on Complexity, Physics, Thermodynamics, and Economics, The Physical Limits of the Sustainable Evolution, Logic and Theory of Relativity, The Cultural History of Physical Cosmology, The history and the philosophic-epistemological background of the 20th century cosmology, The relationship between religion and science as philosophical problem, Issues on the History of Regional Thought, The History of Geographic Idea

Research

The department carries out research in several subfields of history and philosophy of science broadly consured. Among other things, research is pursued in general philosophy of science, analytic philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, history and philosophy of physics, history and philosophy of biology, foundations of physics, social and cultural studies of science, etc.

Academic Staff: Érdiné Szalay Mariann, Hajdu Péter, Kampis György, Kutrovátz Gábor, Rédei Miklós, Ropolyi László,  Szabó László (perm. guest. assoc. prof.), Szegedi Péter, Szigeti András, Zágoni Miklós