> The thing that interested me in engineering was the assumptions that began every problem. Most of these assumptions are philosophical assumptions that engineers are habituated to ignore.
Because these "assumptions" hold in the real world. We start from the assumption, for example, that F=M*A isn't going to just change to F=M*1.2A for the hell of it. Engineers leave such assumptions to the Creationists.
> The terms "genus" and "species" are derived from Aristotle's philsophy
Big Deal. "Easter" was derived from "Ostara." Does that make Easter dependant upon pre-Christian pagan Europeans?
> It seems to me that things you don't understand you regard as "Liberal Arts" crap.
Incorrect. I regard as "Liberal Arts" crap things which are "Liberal Arts" crap. Such as this meaningless discussion. Shall we now discuss the philosophical ramifications of the fact that Dog and God are the same word, just spelled differently?
> Studying Aristotle would be worthwhile
Studying Archimedes even more so.
> You're a nominalist, whether you recognize it or not.
Meh. And you might well be a Hoosifrudgian, for all you know, in the view of the Circling Poets of Arium. Does it make a difference to you? Does that snippet of knowledge effect whether you get up and go to work, whether you think the sky is blue, or what your mood is?
Because these "assumptions" hold in the real world.
Yes, but science by its very nature cannot explain why and how. How, for example, do scientists know that the universe is intelligible and ordered? This assumption, which gave rise to the natural sciences in the West, is a particularly Christian belief, and is the reason why science arose and became a self-sustaining enterprise in the West.
How can you explain the fact that the evidence of your senses is reliable? If you're a materialist, you can't, since your brain must reduce to a machine. Under a materialist rubric, there exists no means for determining whether or not your mind is malfunctioning at any given moment. Moreover, if mind is reduced to matter in motion, the collision of atoms in my brain cannot be any more "true" than the collsion of atoms in your brain. Therefore, there would exist no means for determining whether your belief that "materialism is true" and my belief that "materialism is false," is true.
We start from the assumption, for example, that F=M*A isn't going to just change to F=M*1.2A for the hell of it. Engineers leave such assumptions to the Creationists.
How do you know that this law functions everywhere in the universe? Have you been everywhere in the universe and observed this law?
The terms "genus" and "species" are derived from Aristotle's philsophy
Big Deal. "Easter" was derived from "Ostara." Does that make Easter dependant upon pre-Christian pagan Europeans?
No. But the terms "genus" and "species," as used in everyday language, refer to natures or essences (i.e., dictionary definitions). Materialism rejects essential natures necessarily. Yet materialists hypocritically use dictionaries.
Incorrect. I regard as "Liberal Arts" crap things which are "Liberal Arts" crap. Such as this meaningless discussion. Shall we now discuss the philosophical ramifications of the fact that Dog and God are the same word, just spelled differently?
You operate as a naive realist, yet positively adopt false philosophies like materialism. This makes your thought inherently contradictory and confused, particularly regarding the most important issues in life. This can have profoundly damaging effects in your personal experience.
Studying Aristotle would be worthwhile
Studying Archimedes even more so.
Why?
You're a nominalist, whether you recognize it or not.
Meh. And you might well be a Hoosifrudgian, for all you know, in the view of the Circling Poets of Arium. Does it make a difference to you?
Yes, because, for example, I know that God exists with certainty. I also know the true purpose of life with certainty. Therefore I can order my life toward its objective purpose without hesitation, as long as I don't reject the grace to do so.
You can't achieve happiness in life without knowledge of what true happiness consists. You can't achieve eternal happiness without knowledge of what eternal happiness consists, and how you can get there.
Does that snippet of knowledge effect whether you get up and go to work, whether you think the sky is blue, or what your mood is?
It effects every aspect of my life, every moment of my life.