Truth and Error in Science
The relationship between reason, truth, and belief is one of the central questions of the philosophy of science, and has been addressed by nearly all of the major scientific thinkers. In 1880, the famous scientific thinker and professor Thomas Huxley claimed that "irrationally held truths may be more harmful [to science] than reasoned errors" (qtd. In Bridges, 93). This claim gets to the heart of problems not only with the scientific method but also with human reason in general.
In order to understand what Huxley meant by this assertion, we must understand the context in which he wrote it. This claim was made in an essay written about the future of Darwin's evolutionary theory. Huxley had long been a strong supporter and defender of Darwin's work, so much so that he was known as "Darwin's bulldog" (UCMP site). However, even Huxley's commitment to Darwinism did not stop him from worrying that evolutionary theory would become too firmly entrenched as a biological principle, and would no longer be approached with scientific skepticism. While...
Canadian Forces, small group military relationships Within the Canadian Forces, how are small group military relationships on operational deployments in Kabul, Afghanistan? A group is mostly defined to be two or more people interacting together so they can achieve a common specific goal. The main purpose of the group would be towards a shared and desired outcome. With this in mind, Military groupings are formed to achieve a common interest like
education and the teacher-learner relationship from a Christian-informed philosophical perspective. It begins with an explanation of the author's personal worldview, and then explores the various philosophical schools of education. Combining the two, the author explains how they have helped shape the author's approach to education. Rather than relying on a single educational philosophy, the author intends to combine multiple philosophies in the classroom environment. Describing the purpose of education is
(the Role of Science and Technology in Society and Governance, 1998) the most important thing to do is to redefine the role of science for the society and governance. Looking at the relationship Science does change society as much as society influences science. In the last century there were tremendous progress in scientific invention and discoveries. The vast expansion both in terms of facilities and information has affected the society to
Knowledge and truth were considered absolute and immutable by these two, though for very different reasons, which is the complete antithesis to the empirical theories of Popper, Peirce, Kuhn, and James. The progression of knowledge in the face of such certainty could only result in pure growth from previously established claims, as no truth could ever be said to exist that was not thoroughly and absolutely proved by careful
As Jeffrey Stout has it, following James' "Will-to-Believe," "We need not agree on all matters of moral importance to agree on many, and where our judgments happen to coincide we need not reach them for the same reasons." (Fackre, 2003) Fackre states that there are five pluralist views as follows: View 1: Common Core. At the center of all the great religions of humankind is found a common core of divine
Business Ethics When the Truth Takes a Stretching Class Maria Bailey clearly and blatantly misrepresented the size of her start-up business, but shrugged it off saying she knew what she was "capable of doing" and just wanted to show potential clients "what we were going to be," rather than tell them the truth about how fledgling her business actually was at that time. Was it immoral for Mary Bailey to misrepresent her company? Looking
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