“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead

Tag: science

  • My response to ‘Why Did God Create Atheists?’ @ AlterNet

    Why Did God Create Atheists? | Belief | AlterNet. …and my comment posted as a response: I believe Jesus answers some of these questions when he says that “the kingdom of heaven is within you,” but that many do not yet have the ears to hear or the eyes to see what this means. Of…


  • Consciousness of Science, post at PZ Myers’ blog Pharyngula

    Link to Pharyngula …To believe self-consciousness can be accounted for in purely neurochemical terms is simply a category mistake. Empirical science presupposes self-consciousness, otherwise scientific reasoning would not be possible. Science cannot explain self-consciousness mechanistically without calling into question its own privileged epistemic status. Natural science attempting to explain consciousness in terms of brain mechanisms…


  • Response to PZ Myers on Science and Philosophy

    A link to PZ Myers‘ post that I’m responding to: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/02/criticism_deferred_but_buildin.php A link to my first comment (also pasted below): http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/02/criticism_deferred_but_buildin.php#comment-2256674 You’ll have to refer to the link above if you want to see the other comments I am responding to below, though I do repeat them in brief in my own responses. ——————————————————————————— #…


  • Response to PZ Myers on the Philosophy of Science

    The following was posted on PZ’s blog, Pharyngula, in response to this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/10/nicholas_wade_flails_at_the_ph.php Evolution. Theory, fact, or both? I don’t think answering these questions is as simple as PZ or Wade make it seem. It involves more than science and philosophy, and forces us to deconstruct notions of a pure science uncontaminated by politics, culture,…


  • Avoiding the Religion of Scientism

    Several weeks ago, I posted a blog about my entry to Discover Magazine’s “Evolution in Two Minutes” contest. Developmental biologist and outspoken atheist PZ Myers is judging the entries (still no word on the winner), and out of curiousity, I decided to visit his blog Pharyngula. Though it is supposedly a science blog, Myers posts…


  • Ongoing discussion on PZ Myers’ blog

    Anyone interested in following the thread I’ve been participating in over on Myers’ blog, here’s the link: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/i_was_wondering_about_that.php A little taste of what’s been going on there (one of my posts): @ 201 John Morales writes: “those assumptions (of science) are that there is an external reality, and that it is consistent, and that only…


  • Noospheric Evolution: Science and Religion

    A few weeks ago, a contest put on by Discover Magazine was brought to my attention. The publication asked for short video submissions explaining evolution (by which they meant specifically Darwin’s theory) in a lucid enough way that even the most dim-witted of creationists would be able to grasp it. From Discovery’s submission page: “Think…


  • Phenomenology and Science

    Science (empirical observation coupled with logical deduction), as a way of thinking, has undoubtedly made more out of mankind than any other mode of thought in his historical arsenal. In both the material and mental spheres, man has used the knowledge and technology that he has gained from science to make many great practical advances.…