Dear Steven, I agree that science has forced us to accept that the universe is an objective reality. It stands as an unforgiving test of our theories which must be judged accordingly. Although we cannot say that the scientific method is certainly the best way to investigate nature, we can be fairly sure that it is the best way discovered so far.
Knowledge of the universe, of course, is not the same thing as the universe itself and does require a knower. However, it must have some correspondence to the universe in order to qualify as something which we know what Plato called justified true beliefs. Thus, as a historian of science, I completely accept that my subject is a story of how we discovered knowledge that corresponds to the universe and rejected those theories that do not. But neither do I want to err in the opposite direction. False theories can nevertheless be useful; true theories can be generated in irrational ways; intuition can be a powerful theory builder; not all dead ends are blind alleys. So I think we can take a mildly positivist slant on the history of science while still taking on board the lessons of what Jerry calls postmodernism. Best wishes James The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution by James Hannam is available for pre-order now. "Well-researched and hugely enjoyable." New Scientist A spirited jaunt through centuries of scientific development captures the wonder of the medieval world: its inspirational curiosity and its engaging strangeness. Sunday Times This book contains much valuable material summarised with commendable no-nonsense clarity James Hannam has done a fine job of knocking down an old caricature. Sunday Telegraph -----Original Message----- From: fis-boun...@listas.unizar.es [mailto:fis-boun...@listas.unizar.es] On Behalf Of Steven Ericsson-Zenith Sent: 06 March 2011 23:46 To: Foundations of Information Science of Information Science Information Information Science Subject: Re: [Fis] Reply to Jerry Dear Stan, You wrote: On Mar 6, 2011, at 12:42 PM, Stanley N Salthe wrote: > > ... There can be no 'objective' knowledge of properties outside the material abilities of the knower. Bridgman was the most honest physicist! And von Uexküll was the best psychologist. There is no knowledge outside the knower. All is 'local knowledge' only. Yes, this is postmodernism. However, even with this viewpoint as a standpoint, one can proceed to do standard theoretical and philosophical work because, for example, the universe IS one of our equations! In postmodernism, scientific theory and philosophy become artistic achievements for their own sake, expressing humanity's, and more particularly Western Culture's imagination. The difference, then, is that in the postmodern view, there might be other perspectives, while in the standard scientific view there is only one true perspective, which frequently gets locked into repressive bandwagons (as in Darwinian evolutionary biology, or general relativity cosmology). Excepting for some complaint concerning the labels you choose (I don't see the point of calling this fact "post modernism" or referring to scientific theory as "artistic achievements"), and if I understand you correctly, I agree with that there is "no knowledge outside the knower." However, that does not avoid the fact that the universe is profoundly uniform and it is that uniformity upon which we rely. At core, accepting potential refinement of the scientific method, I can't imagine what "other perspectives" are allowed ... but, perhaps, that is my own (positivist) intellectual investment. Your sociological comments do not persuade me that there are alternatives. With respect, Steven -- Dr. Steven Ericsson-Zenith Institute for Advanced Science & Engineering http://iase.info http://senses.info _______________________________________________ fis mailing list fis@listas.unizar.es https://webmail.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis _______________________________________________ fis mailing list fis@listas.unizar.es https://webmail.unizar.es/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fis
