Open AccessHow to Teach History of Philosophy and Science
Author(s) -
Andrea Reichenberger
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
transversal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2526-2270
DOI - 10.24117/2526-2270.2018.i5.08
Subject(s) - history and philosophy of science , historiography , space (punctuation) , reading (process) , epistemology , philosophy of science , history of science , absolute (philosophy) , computer science , sociology , mathematics education , philosophy , psychology , linguistics , law , political science
The following article describes a pilot study on the possible integration of digital historiography into teaching practice. It focuses on Émilie Du Châtelet’s considerations of space and time against the background of Leibniz’s program of analysis situs. Historians have characterized philosophical controversies on space and time as a dichotomy between the absolute and relational concepts of space and time. In response to this, the present case study pursues two aims: First, it shows that the common portrayal simplifies the complex pattern of change and the semantic shift from absolute-relational concepts of space and time to invariance and conservation principles. Second, against this background, I present the Online Reading Guide on Émilie Du Châtelet’s Foundations of Physics, a teaching and research project designed to help navigate Du Châtelet’s Institutions physiques (1740/42). This project makes Du Châtelet’s important text visible to a broad audience and allows for a more critical and deeper view on classical topics of the history of philosophy and science in a more accessible way than traditional introductions.