If you drop a hammer on your foot, is it real or is it just your imagination? You can run that test, you know, a couple of times, and I hope you come to agree that it’s probably real. –Bill Nye A great deal of time and attention has been taken up in the last few generations on the question of religion and science: Do they conflict? If so, how? And with what consequences? Or Continue Reading …
Search Results for: scientism
Talking Back to David Brin (on Scientism, the Self, and Conversation)
As I've acknowledged, our conversation with David Brin was more monologue, and though we tried to redeem that with the follow-up episode, that still didn't serve the purpose of actually confronting David with our objections to his views (and his style, for that matter) and getting his reasoned reactions. Well, I had another opportunity to close the circle. He had given us Continue Reading …
Scientism and Scientific Sensationalism
Not long after I wrote this post linking to Isaac Chotiner's negative review of Johah Lehrer's Imagine and its "fetishization of brain science," Lehrer was forced to resign from The New Yorker for fabricating Bob Dylan quotes. A lot has been written about the meaning of Lehrer's transgression; but I was bothered less by the distortion of relatively trivial facts than the use to Continue Reading …
Hannah Arendt on Scientism
The question of the "pernicious influence" of scientism on modern life and philosophy gets raised fairly often here at PEL. I get the sense that Wes and Seth think the influence 'quite pernicious' while Mark thinks 'not so pernicious'. (Correct me if I'm wrong guys). So I thought it would be helpful to clarify what is implied by the term, so that we might open the way for some Continue Reading …
The Pernicious Influence of Scientism
Alright, Mark has successfully baited me into a response on the issue of scientism. I should begin by saying that Mark has an interesting reading of Dennet that makes him out not to be a reductionist (as I and many others interpret him). I won't address that here; I'm more interested in the general question of the influence of scientism on well-educated, intellectually curious Continue Reading …