Hakob Barseghyan

Research interests

Although I have various research interests both in metaphysics and epistemology of science (determinism, reduction, irreversibility, scientific methods and theory evaluation), lately I have been working on a general descriptive theory of scientific change. By positing four axioms – four laws of scientific change – and deducing more than twenty theorems, I proposed a theory which explains the mechanism of scientific change, including transitions from one accepted theory to the next and one employed method to the next. By devising this theory, I oppose the common wisdom of the so-called disunity of science thesis and reject the particularist view that the history of science can only be studied in a piecemeal fashion. On the contrary, I show that a general descriptive theory of scientific change can and does exist.

Teaching interests

I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the history and philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, and the history of philosophy. The structure of my courses reflects my conviction that the history of science and the theory of science are best approached together. Currently, I teach the following courses:

• HPS100 Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science
• HPS250 Introductory Philosophy of Science
• HPS300 Aristotelian-Medieval Worldview
• HPS1104 Theory of Scientific Change

Selected publications

• Lectures on Philosophy. Volume 3: Metaphysics. Limush, 2008.
• Lectures on Philosophy. Volume 2: Epistemology. Asoghik, 2006.
• Lectures on Philosophy. Volume 1: Introduction. Asoghik, 2006.