Master in History and Philosophy of Science (M1)

The Master in History and Philosophy of Science is the master of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) of the University of Paris (UFR Institut Humanités Sciences et Sociétés). It offers comprehensive training in the history and philosophy of science, covering all theoretical and historical aspects of science (mathematics, physics, life sciences and medicine). Its teaching team brings together, in addition to teacher-researchers from the HPS department, researchers from the SPHERE laboratory (UMR CNRS 7219) and the Center Georges Canguilhem. The participation of SPHERE allows the lessons to relate to geographical areas (India, China, Arab world, Mesopotamia) or very varied periods (which go from Antiquity to the contemporary period).
Like the HPS department, which constitutes a transversal structure of the University of Paris, and which promotes a transdisciplinary approach to the study of sciences, in their historical and contemporary developments, the Master offers a teaching program at the crossroads of philosophy, history, the sociology of science and medicine, emphasizing the philosophical, epistemological, practical, socio-political and ethical issues of all the sciences as they are practiced.
The Master is designed to welcome students from a wide variety of backgrounds (philosophy, history of science, history, mathematics, physical sciences, biology, medicine), and to ensure that everyone in two years, whatever their initial training, both a general culture in epistemology and history of science, the acquisition and practice of methodological tools for reflection on science, and a specialization course on a specific theme. The Master covers both a professional master and a research master, which can be extended by doctoral work, in particular within the Doctoral School “Knowledge, Sciences, Education” (ED 623) of the University of Paris.