Category: philosophy
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Ancient and medieval philosophy
I have recently listened to lectures by Maarten Hoenen Antike und mittelalterliche Philosophie He has considered in his lectures Plato Aristotle Plotinus Augustine of Hippo Avicenna Anselm of Canterbury Albertus Magnus Thomas Aquinas Meister Eckhart Duns Scotus William of Ockham Nicolaus Cusanus Descartes I have found lectures pretty interesting. They show how Christian philosophers in…
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Investigations into the Applicability of Geometry
Douglas Bertrand Marshall, Investigations into the Applicability of Geometry, Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University (2011) Below pages correspond to those in PDF. Beginning of Abstract “Philosophical reflection about the sciences has persistently given rise to worries that mathematics, while true of its own special objects, is inapplicable to nature or to the physical world. Focusing on…
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DNA to represent proteins
Recently I have read Bas C van Fraassen Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective where a representation is defined as p. 21 “Z uses X to depict Y as F” Does it make sense to say “Z uses” when Z is not a human being? For example, what is a meaning of a sentence “a robot…
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Rainbow as Public Hallucinations
From Bas C van Fraassen Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective p. 98 ‘The ‘window into the invisible world’ metaphor has dominated modern philosophical thinking about science as much as the «mirror of nature» metaphor dominated modern epistemology and metaphysics. It will serve us better to dislodge or at least weaken its grip on philosophical discourses,…
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Evolution and German Idealism
Ken Wilber, The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion “In all these tales, the overall direction of the universe’s unfolding is unmistakable: as if following some second law of religious thermodynamics, the spiritual universe is running down. In the actual unfolding of the universe’s history, we humans (and all creatures) were once…
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Aping Mankind
Raymond Tallis, Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity On the everything-list Craig has written his expression about this book and I have decided to read it. I am personally annoyed by statements from science that we are just biological machines and I have decided to read the opposite camp. Craig’s recommendation happens to be…
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Maxwell on Metaphysics and Theology
Jordi Cat Into the ‘regions of physical and metaphysical chaos’: Maxwell’s scientific metaphysics and natural philosophy of action (agency, determinacy and necessity from theology, moral philosophy and history to mathematics, theory and experiment) Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 43 (2012) 91–104 Abstract Maxwell’s writings exhibit an enduring preoccupation with the role of metaphysics…
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Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology
Justin L. Barrett, Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology: From Human Minds to Divine Minds The book is a bit ideologically loaded but it is written nicely and there is a logic in what the author says. A big part of the book is devoted to an overview of cognitive science. The discussion on whether cognitive science…