Philosophical justification and critique of science.
We begin with a non-empty, finite set of propositions that have already been accepted and compiled and now reside in a database of accepted propositions (DAP). Assume there is some known risk (possible zero) associated with accepting these propositions. Let the level of risk of the nth proposition Pn be a non-negative number, R(Pn), which […]
Natural science is based on the premise that natural kinds exist, that is, types of entities with common, fixed characteristics called natures. The natural world is the combination and interaction of all natural kinds. Philosophically, this is a form of essentialism. Naturalism is the position that the natural world is all that natural science can
The last few centuries have seen a number of theories of history which tried to make history a science and tried to articulate laws of history, including natural history. All of these have failed to find anything like a physical law. Natural history was treated as a science with “principles” substituting for fixed laws. The
‘Nature’ is the world conceived without reference to God. A natural rock is a rock as if it exists on its own or as part of a world that exists on its own. It has no absolute origin. Its only ‘origin’ is from other rocks, other existing substances. It is all transformation. This presupposes a
Let’s distinguish three approaches to the study of universal origins: Philosophical naturalism with natural science Biblical creationism with creation science or Philosophical creationism with universal history Autonomous Humanism: naturalism with natural history and science
If all entities were completely identical, they could not be distinguished from each other so there would be only one entity. If all things were completely unique, they could not be identified so there would be no knowledge. Since neither of these extremes is the case, we conclude that entities contain sufficient similarity to be
Science is about public matters that do not require prior philosophical or religious commitments beyond acknowledging the existence of an orderly world and the possibility of understanding that order. Historically, science did receive impetus from beliefs about the orderliness of the world and human abilities for understanding that order, beliefs that were based on Christian
Greek Coffee Philario was sitting in the coffee shop, typing into his computer when he saw his friend Hector and greeted him. Philario: Hi, Hector. What’s up? Hector: Well said, Philario. What is up. Who is down. Philario: Are you trying to Costello me? Hector: I wasn’t Abbott to do that. Philario: Very funny. I’m
We have some knowledge but it is not complete knowledge, not even arguably near complete. So what should we do about the areas where knowledge is lacking? We should certainly continue to investigate. But what do we say in the mean time? What can we justify saying about the unknown side of partial knowledge? There
There are several criteria commonly used to select the best scientific theory, including consistency, confirmation, and comprehensiveness. We discuss two criteria in particular: (1) “Avoid metaphysics.” Modern science has a long history of avoiding metaphysics. Science was often contrasted with the wrangling of metaphysicians. While some metaphysical assumptions/presuppositions may be inevitable, a theory is preferred
