DOCSLIB.ORG

Thesis of Mice and Kant

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Thesis of Mice and Kant THESIS OF MICE AND KANT: RE-EXAMINING MORAL CONSIDERABILITY TO NON-HUMAN ANIMALS ON KANT‘S COGNITIVE GROUNDS Submitted by William Eric Easley Department of Philosophy In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2014 Master‘s Committee: Advisor: Bernard E. Rollin Jane Kneller Vicki J. Volbrecht Copyright by William Eric Easley 2014 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT OF MICE AND KANT: RE-EXAMINING MORAL CONSIDERABILITY TO NON-HUMAN ANIMALS ON KANT‘S COGNITIVE GROUNDS In this thesis, I examine Kant‘s criterion for moral considerability in light of the intersection between the moral, critical, and epistemic principles Kant commits himself to and evidence of advanced cognitive capacities in non-human animals. As I argue, Kant‘s denial of crucial cognitive capacities in non-human animals represents a flawed attempt at applying a principle of parsimony which threatens to undermine the transcendental base of his theories. Further, expelling the anachronisms and human exceptionalism Kant fell victim to in his theories reveals a robust sense of ethical duties directly to non-human animals, beyond non-cruelty. In Chapter One, I argue that the basis of moral considerability in Kant‘s ethics ought to extend directly to non-human animals if they possess sufficient degrees of the three cognitive capacities that comprise dignity and the ability to meaningfully set ends: reason, autonomy, and self- consciousness. In Chapter Two, I examine Kant‘s cognitive theory and argue that it lacks a developmental account in terms of degrees of these capacities that is crucial to completing Kant‘s ethical project. In Chapters Three and Four, I develop a model for such an account based upon evidence and theories in the philosophy of mind and the sciences, concluding that many non-human animals do possess advanced cognitive capacities and the we, thus, have moral duties directly to most non-human animals. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Bernard E. Rollin, for his guidance and support throughout the stages of this project, most especially for his candidness, thoughtfulness, and for permitting me the freedom to fail and all the lessons that come with it. I would also like to thank Dr. Jane Kneller for her expert direction in navigating Kant‘s labyrinthine theories, and Dr. Vicki J. Volbrecht for her thoughtful comments and the courage to immerse herself in this often ponderous project. Further, I would like to express my indebtedness to the faculty and staff of the Philosophy Department for their support, discussion, and comments; my fellow graduate students for their attentive ears and seemingly endless talent and insight; and, of course, my family and friends for their unwavering encouragement and love, despite never wanting to hear another word about philosophy. Finally, I must give special thanks to Dr. Steve Naragon, whose scholarship and patient correspondence has been invaluable in uncovering and deciphering Kant‘s views regarding non-human animals and orienting my project among them. iii DEDICATION To my late father, Wayne E. Easley, who showed me what it is to be human …and to ―the brutes‖ who continually demonstrate that there is more to being human than simply being a human. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii DEDICATIONS ............................................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER ONE: THE MEASURE OF MORAL WORTH ...........................................................1 §1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 §1.2 Ethical Duties in Kant‘s Ethics ....................................................................................3 §1.3 Non-Cruelty to Animals, as Perfect and Imperfect Duties to Ourselves ...................12 §1.4 Respect, Dignity, and Duties to versus Duties with Regard to ..................................16 §1.5 The Dilemma of Moral Considerability .....................................................................20 §1.6 Setting the Bar for Cognitive Capacities ...................................................................26 §1.7 Anachronism, Religiosity, and Speciesism ................................................................33 CHAPTER TWO: THE GROUNDWORK OF COGNITION ......................................................41 §2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................41 §2.2 Kant‘s Theory of Cognition .......................................................................................42 §2.3 Why There Must be Degrees of Self-Consciousness, Rationality, and Autonomy ...55 CHAPTER THREE: DEGREES OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND COGNITION: Part I: From Transcendental Conditions to Self-Conscious Reflection ....................................................65 §3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................65 §3.2 A Partner in Crime: Gennaro‘s Model of Degrees of Self-Concept ..........................67 §3.3 Level Zero: The Non-Conceptual Kantian Base of Self-Conscious Experiences .....69 §3.4 Level One: Bodily Self-Consciousness .....................................................................75 §3.5 Level Two: Concepts, Facts, and ―I‖ as Experiencer of Mental States .....................78 §3.6 Level Three: Reflection, Episodic Memory, and ―I‖ as Enduring Thinking Thing ..80 §3.7 Interlude: Recapitulation and Clarification ................................................................86 CHAPTER FOUR: DEGREES OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND COGNITION: Part II: From Theory of Mind to Moral and Parsimonious Theorizing .....................................................93 §4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................93 §4.2 Level Four: Implicit Autobiographical Memory and a Theory of Mind ...................94 §4.3 Level Five: Autobiographical Narrative Enhancement and Moral Agency ............104 §4.4 Full Circle: Moral Considerability for Kantian Ethics Based Upon Cognitive Lives .................................................................................................................................112 §4.5 Subjectivity, Scientific Observation, and Parsimony ..............................................113 References ....................................................................................................................................134 v CHAPTER ONE THE MEASURE OF MORAL WORTH ―All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.‖ --George Orwell, Animal Farm ―Trouble with mice is you always kill ‗em.‖ --John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men §1.1 Introduction Grounding an ethical theory that includes non-human animals within the realm of moral concern presents many issues. Some of these issues are practical, such as deciding when human interests are permitted to override concern for animal welfare. But, perhaps the deepest issues are theoretical: how do we account for the differences between humans and non-human animals in such a way that we do not also drive too wide of a gulf between the similarities? Moreover, the application of whatever criteria constitutes moral considerability must not unjustifiably exclude beings which would otherwise meet the criteria. If non-moral considerations—such as race, nationality, gender, handicap, or, in this case, species—are used to exclude beings from moral considerability despite their meeting the criteria, then those considerations are not morally relevant, and, thus, unjustified. Such inconsistent application of moral criteria would violate the stabilizing principles of rational consistency and universality which characterize moral claims in most ethical theories and prevent our moral theories from degrading into arbitrary and pernicious forms of relativism. Put another way, unless membership in a species can be shown to be morally relevant, we do not want a special ethics for humans and a special ethics for non-human animals. Thus, we require a theory that fits humans and non-human animals on the same scale of moral worth with differences of degree, but degrees of the same, or similar, kind. Constructing such a scale 1 requires identifying and isolating what criterion constitute moral worth. Though a capacity to suffer often serves as the prima facie criteria, determining the presence of such a capacity involves determining the presence of a conscious cognitive mental life, or the capacity to have experiences which meaningfully organize and guide the life and ends of that being.1 As such, I believe that a conscious cognitive mental life ought to be the criteria for moral worth and, in this chapter, I will ground this scale of moral worth in Kant‘s ethical theory. This project presents its own difficulties, as Kant‘s ethics are often criticized as establishing little to no concern for non-human animals. In fact, Kant explicitly denies moral considerableness to non-human animals, and explicitly for the reason that they do not have the same kind
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Truth, Rationality, and the Growth of Scientific Knowledge
    ....... CONJECTURES sense similar to that in which processes or things may be said to be parts of the world; that the world consists of facts in a sense in which it may be said to consist of (four dimensional) processes or of (three dimensional) things. They believe that, just as certain nouns are names of things, sentences are names of facts. And they sometimes even believe that sentences are some- thing like pictures of facts, or that they are projections of facts.7 But all this is mistaken. The fact that there is no elephant in this room is not one of the processes or parts ofthe world; nor is the fact that a hailstorm in Newfound- 10 land occurred exactIy I I I years after a tree collapsed in the New Zealand bush. Facts are something like a common product oflanguage and reality; they are reality pinned down by descriptive statements. They are like abstracts from TRUTH, RATIONALITY, AND THE a book, made in a language which is different from that of the original, and determined not only by the original book but nearly as much by the principles GROWTH OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE of selection and by other methods of abstracting, and by the means of which the new language disposes. New linguistic means not only help us to describe 1. THE GROWTH OF KNOWLEDGE: THEORIES AND PROBLEMS new kinds of facts; in a way, they even create new kinds of facts. In a certain sense, these facts obviously existed before the new means were created which I were indispensable for their description; I say, 'obviously' because a calcula- tion, for example, ofthe movements of the planet Mercury of 100 years ago, MY aim in this lecture is to stress the significance of one particular aspect of carried out today with the help of the calculus of the theory of relativity, may science-its need to grow, or, if you like, its need to progress.
    [Show full text]
  • The Demarcation Problem
    Part I The Demarcation Problem 25 Chapter 1 Popper’s Falsifiability Criterion 1.1 Popper’s Falsifiability Popper’s Problem : To distinguish between science and pseudo-science (astronomy vs astrology) - Important distinction: truth is not the issue – some theories are sci- entific and false, and some may be unscientific but true. - Traditional but unsatisfactory answers: empirical method - Popper’s targets: Marx, Freud, Adler Popper’s thesis : Falsifiability – the theory contains claims which could be proved to be false. Characteristics of Pseudo-Science : unfalsifiable - Any phenomenon can be interpreted in terms of the pseudo-scientific theory “Whatever happened always confirmed it” (5) - Example: man drowning vs saving a child Characteristics of Science : falsifiability - A scientific theory is always takes risks concerning the empirical ob- servations. It contains the possibility of being falsified. There is con- firmation only when there is failure to refute. 27 28 CHAPTER 1. POPPER’S FALSIFIABILITY CRITERION “The theory is incompatible with certain possible results of observation” (6) - Example: Einstein 1919 1.2 Kuhn’s criticism of Popper Kuhn’s Criticism of Popper : Popper’s falsifiability criterion fails to char- acterize science as it is actually practiced. His criticism at best applies to revolutionary periods of the history of science. Another criterion must be given for normal science. Kuhn’s argument : - Kuhn’s distinction between normal science and revolutionary science - A lesson from the history of science: most science is normal science. Accordingly, philosophy of science should focus on normal science. And any satisfactory demarcation criterion must apply to normal science. - Popper’s falsifiability criterion at best only applies to revolutionary science, not to normal science.
    [Show full text]
  • Study Questions Philosophy of Science Spring 2011 Exam 1
    Study Questions Philosophy of Science Spring 2011 Exam 1 1. Explain the affinities and contrasts between science and philosophy and between science and metaphysics. 2. What is the principle of verification? How was the logical positivist‟s view of verification influenced by Hume‟s fork? Explain. 3. Explain Hume‟s distinction between impressions and ideas. What is the relevance of this distinction for the empiricist‟s view of how knowledge is acquired? 4. Why was Hume skeptical about “metaphysical knowledge”? Does the logical positivist, such as A. J. Ayer, agree or disagree? Why or why not? 5. Explain Ayer‟s distinction between weak and strong verification. Is this distinction tenable? 6. How did Rudolf Carnap attempt to separate science from metaphysics? Explain the role of what Carnap called „C-Rules‟ for this attempt. Was he successful? 7. Explain one criticism of the logical positivist‟s principle of verification? Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? 8. Explain the affinities and contrasts between A. J. Ayer‟s logical positivism and Karl Popper‟s criterion of falsifiability. Why does Popper think that scientific progress depends on falsifiability rather than verifiability? What are Popper‟s arguments against verifiability? Do you think Popper is correct? 9. Kuhn argued that Popper neglected what Kuhn calls “normal science.” Does Popper have a reply to Kuhn in his distinction between science and ideology? Explain. 10. Is Popper‟s criterion of falsifiability a solution to the problem of demarcation? Why or why not? Why would Gierre or Kuhn disagree? Explain 11. Kuhn, in his “Logic of Discovery or Psychology of Research?” disagrees with Popper‟s criterion of falsifiability as defining the essence of science.
    [Show full text]
  • Corkett a Note on the Aristotelian Origin
    1 A NOTE ON THE ARISTOTELIAN ORIGIN OF POPPER’S DEMARCATION CRITERION TOGETHER WITH ITS APPLICATION TO ATLANTIC CANADA’S FISHERIES Christopher J. Corkett* *Christopher is a retired Instructor from the Biology Department of Dalhousie University. He is currently applying Karl Popper’s non-inductive theory of method to the management of the world’s commercial fisheries. Abstract It has not always been realised that Karl Popper’s demarcation criterion, the criterion he uses to distinguish an empirical science from its ‘metaphysical’ complement involves an interpretation of the classical theory of terms. From the beginning Popper’s criterion never was an attempt to distinguish some subject matter called ‘science’ from some subject matter called ‘metaphysics’. His criterion of falsifiability always was an attempt to distinguish the logical strength of a universal law from the logical weakness of its complement, a complement that can bear no fruit. For example: if the falsifiability criterion is applied to the management of the fisheries of Atlantic Canada we can distinguish the bold and sound management of Atlantic lobster from the weak and unsound management of Atlantic groundfish. In the early 1990s Newfoundland’s fishery for Atlantic cod suffered a major collapse that has become one of the world’s most prominent case studies of failure in fisheries management. Under Popper’s analytic theory of demarcation a weak management with no problem solving potentiality is to be held responsible for the collapse of Newfoundland’s Atlantic cod fishery. 2 1. Introduction Logic is one of the most ancient of all disciplines. It was founded by the Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) before even the Hellenistic development of mathematics.
    [Show full text]
  • The Problem of Induction
    The Problem of Induction Gilbert Harman Department of Philosophy, Princeton University Sanjeev R. Kulkarni Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University July 19, 2005 The Problem The problem of induction is sometimes motivated via a comparison between rules of induction and rules of deduction. Valid deductive rules are necessarily truth preserving, while inductive rules are not. So, for example, one valid deductive rule might be this: (D) From premises of the form “All F are G” and “a is F ,” the corresponding conclusion of the form “a is G” follows. The rule (D) is illustrated in the following depressing argument: (DA) All people are mortal. I am a person. So, I am mortal. The rule here is “valid” in the sense that there is no possible way in which premises satisfying the rule can be true without the corresponding conclusion also being true. A possible inductive rule might be this: (I) From premises of the form “Many many F s are known to be G,” “There are no known cases of F s that are not G,” and “a is F ,” the corresponding conclusion can be inferred of the form “a is G.” The rule (I) might be illustrated in the following “inductive argument.” (IA) Many many people are known to have been moral. There are no known cases of people who are not mortal. I am a person. So, I am mortal. 1 The rule (I) is not valid in the way that the deductive rule (D) is valid. The “premises” of the inductive inference (IA) could be true even though its “con- clusion” is not true.
    [Show full text]
  • The Falsifiabtlity Criterion and the Cognitive Statws Of
    The falsifiability criterion and the cognitive status of religious belief Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Gettman, Gary Lee, 1942- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 14:06:51 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/317923 THE FALSIFIABTLITY CRITERION AND THE COGNITIVE STATWS OF RELIGIONS BELIEF by Gary Lo Gettmm A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements ■ ■ For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 6 6 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill­ ment of requirements for an advanced degree at The Uni­ versity of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Libraryo Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknow­ ledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the inter­ ests of scholarship* In all other
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of the Demarcation Problem in Philosophy of Science and Its Application to Homeopathy
    AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEMARCATION PROBLEM IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND ITS APPLICATION TO HOMEOPATHY Alper Bilgehan YARDIMCI ABSTRACT This paper presents a preliminary analysis of homeopathy from the perspective of the demarcation problem in the philosophy of science. In this context, Popper, Kuhn and Feyerabend’s solution to the problem will be given respectively and their criteria will be applied to homeopathy, aiming to shed some light on the controversy over its scientific status. It then examines homeopathy under the lens of demarcation criteria to conclude that homeopathy is regarded as science by Feyerabend and is considered as pseudoscience by Popper and Kuhn. By offering adequate tools for the analysis of the foundations, structure and implications of homeopathy, demarcation issue can help to clarify this medical controversy. The main argument of this article is that a final decision on homeopathy, whose scientific status changes depending on the criteria of the philosophers mentioned, cannot be given. Keywords: Demarcation Problem, Scientific Status of Homeopathy, Falsifiability, Puzzle-solving, Anarchist Method, Pseudoscience BİLİM FELSEFESİNDE SINIR ÇİZME SORUNUNUN ANALİZİ VE HOMEOPATİYE UYGULANMASI ÖZ Bu makale, bilim felsefesinin önemli konularından biri olan sınır çizme sorunu açısından homeopatinin bir ön analizini sunmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, Popper, Kuhn ve Feyerabend'in sınır çizme sorununa yönelik çözümleri sırasıyla verilecek ve onların ölçütleri, homeopatinin bilimsel durumu üzerindeki tartışmalara ışık tutacak şekilde uygulanacaktır. Homeopatinin Feyerabend tarafından bilim, Popper ve Kuhn açısından ise sözde bilim olduğu sonucuna varmak amacıyla, homeopati sınır çizme ölçütleri çerçevesinde incelenmektedir. Sınır çizme tartışması homeopatinin temellerini, yapısını ve sonuçlarını analiz etmek için yeterli araçları sunarak bu tıbbi tartışmayı netleştirmeye yardımcı olabilir.
    [Show full text]
  • Falsification and Falsificationism
    Available online at www.worldscientificnews.com WSN 51 (2016) 62-71 EISSN 2392-2192 Falsification and falsificationism Karol Kraiński Faculty of Economics and Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 13a Gagarina Str., 87-100 Toruń, Poland E-mail address: [email protected] ABSTRACT Falsification is not meant to refute the theory, but only allows you to specify the probability of the truth of posed too. This action can be described as a set of hypotheses that have a researcher to help explain and describe the world around us. Keywords: falsification; falsificationism; counterfeiting; forg ery; fraud 1. INTRODUCTION Falsification (trans. NLC. Falsificatio = counterfeiting, forgery, fraud) ang. falsification; Ger. Falsifikatio. Proceedings aiming to overturn a sentence, that is, an attempt to demonstrate its falsity. Such a procedure usually involves three stages [6]: 1. derivation of appropriate logical consequences of forged hypothesis; those consequences must be sentences observation; 2. execution of relevant experience (observation, experiment, measurement); 3. confrontation with the results derived consequence experience and any decision to reject the hypothesis. Falsifies is usually not a single thesis, but some of their team. Falsification is the criterion on the basis of a scientific conception of science (K. R. Popper), according to which: a) the thesis must be subject to falsification; World Scientific News 51 (2016) 62-71 b) does not attach much importance to the verification procedure, since the assertion can sometimes completely subvert and never can not be completely verified (with the exception of statements regarding finite and relatively not-great number of objects); c) believes that the introduction of science thesis is not even verified valuable than refraining from introducing too insufficiently verified.
    [Show full text]
  • Falsification
    Falsification David Miller Department of Philosophy University of Warwick COVENTRY CV4 7AL UK [email protected] Truth, Falsity, and Negation Technical University of Dresden, 1 April 2010 C O 0 Summary of the Lecture N 1 Verifiability and Falsifiability T 2 Acceptance and Rejection E 3 Petitio Principii N 4 The Critical Approach T 5 Is a Special Logic of Falsification Needed? S 0 Summary of the lecture This is a philosophical lecture with some logical additives. The aim is to consider the rival attractions of verifica- tion, or proof, or justification (total or partial) on the one side, and falsification or (more generally) criticism on the other. Old arguments will be deployed to reach the con- clusion that all worthwhile uses of arguments are critical, rather than constructive, or exploratory, or persuasive. The critical approach draws attention to unfamiliar epi- stemological problems, in particular the problem of over- population. Everyone, verificationist or falsificationist, is exposed to this problem, but so far it resists solution. 0{0 1 The criterion of demarcation As all the world knows, in 1919, or 1931, or perhaps only in 1934, Karl Popper proposed falsifiability as the criter- ion with which to demarcate empirical science from non- scientific pursuits such as logic & mathematics, meta- physics, and pseudoscience. His proposal was a critical re- sponse to the criterion, propounded by the Vienna Circle, that scientific knowledge is what is empirically verifiable. The distinctive doctrine of these logical empiricists was that there exist only two varieties of knowledge: analytic knowledge, which is justified by formal proof, and scient- ific knowledge, which is justified by empirical verification.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scientific Approach Theories Falsifiability
    E.g. Popper was initially cynical of the falsifiability of natural selection. Freud's theory regarded the unconscious and so was unfalsifiable (and was also based on idiographic data). Many humanistic theories (Rogers' theory of 'self actualisation' or Maslow's 'hierarchy of needs' theory) are unfalsifiable. These are example of alleged pseudo-sciences. However, it could be argued that the discusssion that these theories provokes warrants their existence (e.g. Bowlby extended Freud's theories brilliantly. As did Michael Rutter after that!) 20th Century philosopher Karl Popper asserted that a theory is only scientific if it is falsifiable. He proposed this as a solution to the problem of Scientists should therefore attempt to falsify their induction, which states that people make theories, as opposed to trying to confirm them. deductive statements using their own Thomas Kuhn argued that science undergoes experiences (e.g. "all swans are white") to make stages of "paradigm shifts" in which a major conclusions about objects they haven't How realistic is this in practice? How useful was breakthrough occurs and shifts the direction of experienced. Theoretically, a statement is only the 'reification' of Behaviourism in explaining research. Science is broken up in to three stages: true until it has been falsified (e.g. australian behaviour?! If an experiment is replicated and yields diferent black swans). Pre-science, which lacks a central paradigm. results, it has arguably been falsified. But to Then normal science, which has a paradigm. A what extent has it been falsified? How many build up of refuting evidence is seen to suggest studies are required to prove that another is more and more that the existing paradigm is false? false, and this builds up to a critical mass.
    [Show full text]
  • Falsifiability Much Discussion of the Empirical Status of Social Science In
    Falsifiability Much discussion of the empirical status of social science in the past has revolved around Karl Popper's formulation of the doctrine of falsifiability. This idea has had a particularly noticeable influence on discussions of methodology in the social sciences. Popper's requirement is that all scientific hypotheses must in principle be falsifiable: that is, it must be possible to specify in advance a set of empirical circumstances which would demonstrate the falsity of the hypothesis. Popper writes, "A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non- scientific. Irrefutability is not a virture of a theory (as people often think) but a vice" (Popper, 1965, p. 36). This criterion is often used to fault social science research on the ground that social scientists are often prepared to adjust their hypotheses in such a way as to render them compatible with unexpected empirical results (anomalies). Popper develops these criticisms in some detail in his discussion of Marx's social theory. Popper writes, The Marxist theory of history . ultimately adopted this soothsaying practice. In some of its earlier formulations . their predictions were testable, and in fact falsified. Yet instead of accepting the refutations the followers of Marx re-interpreted both the theory and the evidence in order to make them agree. In this way they rescued the theory from refutation; but they did so at the price of adopting a device which made it irrefutable. They thus gave a "conventionalist twist" to the theory; and by this strategem they destroyed its much advertised claim to scientific status. (Popper, 1965, p.
    [Show full text]
  • In-Between Science and Religion Dominic Balestra Fordham University, [email protected]
    Fordham University Masthead Logo DigitalResearch@Fordham Hermeneutic and Phenomenological Philosophies Research Resources of Science 2002 In-Between Science and Religion Dominic Balestra Fordham University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fordham.bepress.com/phil_research Part of the Philosophy of Science Commons Recommended Citation Balestra, Dominic, "In-Between Science and Religion" (2002). Research Resources. 44. https://fordham.bepress.com/phil_research/44 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Hermeneutic and Phenomenological Philosophies of Science at DigitalResearch@Fordham. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Resources by an authorized administrator of DigitalResearch@Fordham. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DOMINIC BALESTRA IN-BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION 1. METHODOLOGICAL DEMARCATION: A WANING WALL Stripped of its seventeenth and eighteenth century Deistic, if not theistic, sensibility, science entered the twentieth century as agnostic and indifferent, if not outrightly antagonistic, toward religion. Religion was often viewed as the enemy of modern science; and its theology was presumed to be intellectually vacuous. “Real science” was clearly understood to be objective, empirical and rational. It bore no relationship to theology, none of any cognitive import – except perhaps to eliminate theology as contributing toward any understanding of the cosmos. This view of the relationship between science and religion was further reinforced by logical empiricism. In the latter’s view science aimed to establish empirically testable, generalized explanations of observable but problematic phenomena. Such phenomena might be freely falling bodies or the deviation of a planet from the expected path of its usual orbit. As the phrase “logical empiricism” suggests, in its view the objectivity of science rested with an evidential base of empirical facts, facts which were independent of any hypothesized theory under question and available to all through sense observation.
    [Show full text]