This part of the PhD course provides the students with

1. A better understanding of the scientific foundation of research
2. A chance to explain their research in the terms that will be used by a typical evaluation committee in the evaluation of their completed work: what is your field, your research question, how is your method argued to provide an answer to your research question etc.

Part ONE runs for three days, 13-15 June 2022, and is taught by Associate Professor Peter Kesting and Professor Ingo Kleindienst.

Schedule – Part ONE

DAY 1: Monday, 13 June 2022 (room: 2610-S530)

9.00-10.15: Introduction to DAY 1-3

By Peter Kesting and Ingo Kleindienst

Part I. 1.  Classical Theories of Science (all Peter Kesting)

10.30–12.00: Introduction to classical theory of science

12.00–13.00: Lunch

13.00–14.30: 'The quest for the true essence of life': Plato’s doctrine of ideas and after

14.45–16.00: 'All ideas are developed from experience': Locke’s empiricism and after

16.15–18.00: 'Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent': Logical empiricism

Day 2: Tuesday, 14 June 2022 (room: 2610-S530)

9.00–10.30: 'Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths': Critical rationalism

10.45–12.00: 'A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it': Kuhn and the structure of scientific revolutions

12.00-13.00: Reconstruction: What to do?

13.00–14.00: Lunch

Part I. 2. The research field and the research question (Ingo Kleindienst)

14: 00 – 14.15: Introduction - The practical construction of the PhD

14.15 - 18.00: Student presentations 1:

What is your research field? What is your research question? Why does it matter?
(Students present their answers individually, 5 minutes each. Thereafter 10 minutes discussion per student led by Ingo Kleindienst)

DAY 3: Wednesday, 15 June 2022 (room: 2610-S530)

9.00-10.00: Theory and the literature review

10.00-10.15: Coffee

10.15-11.15: Student presentations 2:

How did you select your literature for review? What criteria determined relevance and irrelevance? (Students present their answers, 5 minutes each, discussion led by Ingo Kleindienst)

11.15-12.00: Selection of a method and access to sources.

12.00-13.00: Lunch

13:00-14:30: Student presentations 3:

How did you select a method appropriate to your research question?
(Students present their answers, 5 minutes each, discussion led by Ingo Kleindienst)

14:30-14:45: Coffee

14:45-15:45: Workshop:

The discipline of dissertation writing
(i.e. habits e.g. allocating fixed writing times, filing systems, etc.)

15:45-16:00: Coffee

16:00-17:00: Student presentations 4:

What tactics do you employ to improve your writing skills?
(Students present their answers, 5 minutes each, discussion led by Ingo Kleindienst)

17:00-18:00: Summary and recap of Part I.2 and Q&A session

Readings - Part ONE

I.1/Peter Kesting

Caldwell, B. (1984) Beyond Positivism: Economic Methodology in the 20^th Century, London: Allen and Unwin.

Beyond Positivism is a little difficult to read, but part one of that book provides a very focused and profound introduction to 20^th century philosophy of science. We will use this part as a condensed overview of logical empiricism, critical realism, and Kuhn. So please use it as starting point for your assignment. In other words: The section on “your” doctrine is mandatory; I recommend reading the other sections of part one of this book as well.

Russell, Bertrand (1946). History of Western Philosophy, any edition.

This book provides a very readable (although not completely neutral) introduction to the core concepts of Plato (first book, section 15), Locke (third book, section 13), and Hume (third book, section 17). The section on Kant (third book, section 20) is rather weak – but we do not go very deep into that anyway. However, this book is NOT mandatory for the course.

Additionally, some original sources of different "modern" doctrines:

On logical empiricism:
Schlick, M. (1929) The Scientific Conception of the World, any edition.

On critical realism:
Popper, Karl R. (1934) The Logic of Scientific Discovery, any edition.

Popper, Karl R. (1984): In a Search of a Better World, any edition

On Kuhn and the sociology of science:
Kuhn, T.S. (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, any edition that contains the Postscript 1969.

I will give you recommendations for additional readings after you have been assigned to a topic.

If you can’t get enough:
Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1945) History of Economic Analysis, any edition, part I.

In my opinion, Schumpeter’s History is one of the greatest books that has ever been written on philosophy of science from an economics perspective. Very difficult to read.

Friedman, M. (1953) 'The Methodology of positive Economics' in Friedman, M., Essays in Positive Economics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 3-43 (or any reprint).
A classic on economic methodology. Very influential, very present today – and still very controversial.

I.2/Ingo Kleindienst: 

Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.C., Williams, J.M., Bizup, J., and Fitzgeral, W.T. (2016). 4th edition, The Craft of Research. Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press.

Available online at Ebook Central. Access via AU Library

On habits and writing

Newport, C. (2016) Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Silvia, P.J. (2015) Write it Up, Washington, DC.: APA LifeTools.

Silvia, P.J. (2019) How to Write a Lot. Washington, DC.: American Psychological Association.

More literature will be announced during the course