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The Folly of Scientism (I)
The New Atlantis ^ | Fall 2012 | Austin L Hughes

Posted on 02/09/2019 8:31:40 AM PST by aspasia

There are at least three areas of inquiry traditionally in the purview of philosophy that now are often claimed to be best — or only — studied scientifically: metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Let us discuss each in turn.

Physicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow open their 2010 book The Grand Design by asking:

What is the nature of reality? Where did all this come from? Did the universe need a creator? ... Traditionally these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.
Though physicists might once have been dismissive of metaphysics as mere speculation, they would also have characterized such questions as inherently speculative and so beyond their own realm of expertise. The claims of Hawking and Mlodinow, and many other writers, thus represent a striking departure from the traditional view.

(Excerpt) Read more at thenewatlantis.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: philosophy; reason; science; scientism; truth
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To: sparklite2
the assumption that it applies to all humans

Yes, it might go wrong with that. Sort of like scientismits claims are too broad.

Or like the idea of common reason. Something about the concept of common reason is promising, politically. Like an average or a majority. It makes politics possible. But whenever it because exclusive, it can be politically dangerous. Political freedom is necessary against the big ideas.

And so philosophy is not dead, because we still have to determine when a definition or theory is too broad and goes over the line.

21 posted on 02/09/2019 9:50:28 AM PST by aspasia
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To: BroJoeK

Good points.

I prefer to think of science as an attempt to measure what we can observe.

The modern problem is drawing conclusions and stating some sort of relationship, too soon.

But Heisenberg observed that we can’t measure the position and the momentum of a particle at the same time.

I think that time only exists when there is motion.

Does that mean there is a supernaturalism? The God factor?

My life is science, but I have received miracles that only God could offer. I prefer to celebrate both.


22 posted on 02/09/2019 9:55:36 AM PST by gandalftb
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To: Openurmind
Openurming: "The difference is between the physical and the spiritual.
Can one truly affect the other?
Absolutely."

Exactly.

23 posted on 02/09/2019 9:56:06 AM PST by BroJoeK ((a little historical perspective...))
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Galileo’s Christianity got him this ...

He was tried by the Inquisition, found “vehemently suspect of heresy”, and forced to recant. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest


24 posted on 02/09/2019 9:58:08 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder
Telepathic Intruder: "...Can you understand Picasso by studying his paintings?
Very often the artist himself is very different than what his creations portray."

Very nicely said, thanks!

25 posted on 02/09/2019 9:58:22 AM PST by BroJoeK ((a little historical perspective...))
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To: aspasia

I wonder what kind of a career boost someone with a bachelor’s in philosophy can expect in the marketplace. Not much, I imagine.

And have you come up with a better representation of a hierarchy than a pyramid yet?


26 posted on 02/09/2019 10:01:41 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: gandalftb
an attempt to measure what we can observe

An intense amount of measurement that produces heaps of data. This data is then displayed as fact or truth and somehow from that we are told how to behave. That is what I thought would be called the politicization of science. But the Internet thinks politicization of science is the anti-science stance of someone who disputes data or at least refuses to behave in a way that confirms the data as truth.

27 posted on 02/09/2019 10:03:19 AM PST by aspasia
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To: aspasia
.. the existence of multiple universes ..

If it were somehow possible to see how it actually pans out with a couple hundred more years of research/exploration, I'd make a sizable bet against the validity of the multiverse concept.

This one of which we're aware seems quite large enough to hold a practically infinite number of mind-boggling phenomena.

(click for really really big :-)

             

28 posted on 02/09/2019 10:04:04 AM PST by tomkat
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To: aspasia

“the idea that one can dispute a scientific conclusion because there are dissenting opinions out there is the most dangerous one to science in society.”

I bet this guy calls global warming skeptics “deniers”. Skepticism is one of true science most important attributes.


29 posted on 02/09/2019 10:04:57 AM PST by aquila48
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To: BroJoeK
However, to contradict myself, I do think you can know the mind of God to some degree by observing nature (not by studying it scientifically). I think God did invest himself somewhat in his creation. In the Bible, David came to know God in this way. I think I did a little as well.
30 posted on 02/09/2019 10:06:23 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: sparklite2
No, I don't mind the pyramid. I was curious about it.

The economic utility of earning a philosophy major is something other than the need for philosophical activity in all fields of human knowledge.

But if you think about it, an BA in philosophy could be quite advantageous for a psychologist seeking to get hired.

31 posted on 02/09/2019 10:11:11 AM PST by aspasia
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To: aspasia

“heaps of data”

The error occurs when meaning and relationships are laid onto data.

Connecting the dots, that’s where politics soils science.

There is overwhelming data that blue-eyed people have terrible chopstick skills.

Well, the use of chopsticks absolutely cannot cause blue eyes, that would be silly, we are born that way. That’s a fact.

So, therefore blue eyes have to be the cause. That’s the only logical meaning. Right?


32 posted on 02/09/2019 10:13:46 AM PST by gandalftb
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To: sparklite2

Well in theory a BS in philosophy should mean you can read, synthesize what you read & write about it an literate fashion (Note not literary fashion!).

Of course nowadays it more likely means you slept in class less the your peers!


33 posted on 02/09/2019 10:15:50 AM PST by Reily
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To: gandalftb

Actually the real beef is about whether our sex and gender are fluid or not. The textbook publishers are on full steam ahead.


34 posted on 02/09/2019 10:18:10 AM PST by aspasia
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To: BroJoeK

Until this knowledge is completely understood one cannot transcend. It’s there, it’s obtainable even while in the physical. But we limit this possibility with predetermined ideology as a collective.


35 posted on 02/09/2019 10:20:12 AM PST by Openurmind
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To: aspasia

Sex has always been variable, gender is the label.

The problem is self identity, how we describe ourselves.

You’re right publishers and psychologists are making a fortune stirring up that description, giving power to this identity and that.

I feel sorry for the identity confused people.


36 posted on 02/09/2019 10:24:26 AM PST by gandalftb
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To: tomkat

There is a pattern that repeats it’s self from the atom to the molecule, to the solar system, to the galaxies, to galaxy clusters, to the center of the universe. How can one assume this same pattern stops and becomes finite? All common sense dictates it continues and is infinite. And it is possible the creation of universes is perpetual and they are always being created.


37 posted on 02/09/2019 10:28:49 AM PST by Openurmind
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To: Openurmind
Perhaps, but y'all are gonna have to figure it out without me one of these days before long .. but whichever way it goes, it/them are still reeeeeeeally big   ;-)
38 posted on 02/09/2019 10:33:29 AM PST by tomkat
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To: Openurmind

You speak of accretion, the action of gravity


39 posted on 02/09/2019 10:34:14 AM PST by bert ( (KE. N.P. N.C. +12) Honduras must be invaded to protect America from invasion)
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To: Reily

It used to be said a college degree meant you know how to use the library to find out what you need to know.

Nowadays, substitute the internet. As the mangled meme goes, the internet is the suppository of humam knowledge.


40 posted on 02/09/2019 10:38:55 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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