Where is the science in Philosophy? I have recently been reading commentary on one philosopher’s account of an epistemology based in perception, conceptualization, and abstraction. This commentary is paired with a critical analysis of the epistemologies of other philosophers, based on the Aristotelian foundations. While reading it, I thought “but there must be one true way the mind comes to terms with reality, a way based in the biology of the brain.” A biology whose workings I don’t understand and I suspect most philosophers do not understand. After all, one person can only learn so much. Still, it seems that any bold explanation of why we know what we know must be based on some understanding of the inner workings of the brain.
How much of philosophy is just another kind of curiosity-stopper? Or rather are philosophers often building bridges out of “non-knowledge”. “Non-knowledge” being a made up word to describe complicated explanations that lack truth value. Philosophers often test their theories by quizzing each other, one attempting to convince the other of a particular position. This kind of test doesn’t seem sufficiently rigorous to be considered scientific.
I just wanted to say that this is the best damn blog I’ve read. The high level of regular, insightful, quality updates is stunning. Reading this blog, I feel like I’ve not just accumulated knowledge, but processes I can apply to continue to refine my understanding of how I think and how I accumulate further knowledge.
I am honestly surprised, with all the work the contributors do in another realms, that you are able to maintain this high level of quality output on a blog.
Recently I have been continuing my self-education in ontology and epistemology. Some sources are more rigorous than others. Reading Rand, for example, shows an author who seems to utilize “phlogiston” like mechanics to describe her ethical solutions to moral problems. Explanations that use convincing, but unbounded turns of phrase instead of a meaningful process of explanation. It can be very challenging to read and process new data and also maintain a lack of bias (or at least an awareness of bias, that can be accounted for and challenged). It requires a very high level of active, conscious information processing. Rereading, working exercises, and thinking through what a person is saying and why they are saying it. This blog has provided me lots of new tools to improve my methods of critical thinking.
Rock on.