vol III Development:
Chapter 1: Epistemology
Introduction
Life is uncertain, and the logic of selection means that we have evolved to do everything possible to skew the odds our own way. We assume here that the strategy, in any situation, is to 'get real', ie try to understand what is really going on. With this information in
hand, we can choose how to act with greater probability of success. Natural selection - Wikipedia
Epistemology comprises the processes we use to improve the quality of our knowledge and actions. Proven methods not only guarantee the quality of action, but they also engender feelings of peace and security. Unfortunately the world evolves, which means that
epistemology must also evolve. Methods that were once seen to be helpful may no longer seem so satisfactory. Epistemology - Wikipedia
Every science and tradition of science has a history that stretches back before the era of writing. Historians of science can mark a major transformation in each science where it ceased to base itself on eminent authorities and began to use observations and experience as touchstones of truth. History of scholarship - Wikipedia, History of science - Wikipedia
We see this transformation happening in physics, beginning around the time of Galileo, and it has gradually taken place in biology and the psychological and social sciences. In all cases evidence based planning and action are replacing the whims of powerful people and organizations. Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia
The one major science where the transition has not really begun is theology. The theological agenda is still mainly controlled by institutional authorities. We note, for instance, that the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (which claims to be a successor of the 'Academy of the Lynxes' which counted Galileo among its members) does not include theology among its disciplines. Theology - Wikipedia, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Accademia dei Lincei - Wikipedia
We model epistemology using the language of cybernetics. Our first assumption is that all activity in life may fitted to the control loop: look, think, act, look . . . . This loop is often unconscious, but remains a useful analytical tool. Cybernetics - Wikipedia
Even a very simple creature has an almost infinite range of
possible interpretations of its environment and possible responses.
At each moment in its life it must pick the action best calculated to
keep it going. Difficult times select for excellence here, but when
times are good the choices multiply. Inaction (sleep) can also be an
excellent choice.
We assume on this site that our personal culture is everything we have learned since birth. Culture is our learned guide to action, building on the biological powers passed on to us through our genes. Epistemology then becomes the tool we use to develop quality culture, that is quality learned fitness. Culture - Wikipedia
A new religion
On this site we are particularly concerned with the theological and religious aspects of culture. It is at this point that this project deviates from religions based on ancient texts. The methods used by such religions are devoted to interpreting texts inherited from ancient authorities in the light of modern circumstances.
The method proposed here is the scientific method, that is the assumption
that we should derive our information about the world directly from
the world. Books can easily be wrong, since the world changes and
what seemed true to an ancient writer may no longer be very
convincing. Or the author may have been on the wrong track to begin
with.
This part of the site is devoted to an exposition of the evidence based route to secure knowledge method and an exploration of the boundaries of our knowledge and certainty. Given our fundamental assumption that the Universe is divine, we interpret all observable evidence as messages from God, traditionally known as revelation. Revelation - Wikipedia
The 'scientific' parts of
Development are an application of this
method, beginning with the definition of a
model and followed by
fitting it to the structures studied by
cybernetics,
physics,
biology,
psychology and
theology.
The evolution of artistic and technological (= practical) solutions to life's
problems is then taken up under the headings of
love,
culture,
politics,
religion,
economics,
design,
work and
experience.
(revised 7 August 2014)
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Copyright:
You may copy this material freely provided only that you quote fairly and provide a link (or reference) to your source.
Further reading
Books
Click on the "Amazon" link below each book entry to see details of a book (and possibly buy it!)
Gregory, Richard Langton, and (editor), The Oxford Companion to the Mind, Oxford University Press 1987 Preface: '... written by a wide range of authorities on as many aspects of Mind as possible. ... The range is wide, as the concept of Mind accepted here is far broader than what may (at first) come to mind, as one thinks of mind: especially thinking and consciousness. We do not, however, limit 'Mind' to consciousness, or awareness, for even long before Freud it was clear that a great deal goes on 'mentally' which is beyond (or beneath, or at least outside) our awareness.'
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Hofstadter, Douglas R, and The Fluid Analogies Research Group, Fluid Concepts & Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought, Basicx Books 1996 Jacket: 'Readers of earlier works of Douglas Hofstadter will find this book a natural extension of his style and his ideas about creativity and analogy; in addition psychologists, philosophers and artificial intelligence researchers will find in this elaborate web of ingenious ideas a deep anmd challenging new view of mind.'
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Honderich, Ted, and (editor), The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford University Press 1995 Preface: 'The brave, large aim of this book is to bring philoophy togethter between two covers better than ever before. This is not a job for one man, or one woman, or a few, or a team, although it has been tried often enough. So 249 of us have joined forces.'
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Kuhn, Thomas S, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, U of Chicago Press 1996 Introduction: 'a new theory, however special its range of application, is seldom just an increment to what is already known. Its assimilation requires the reconstruction of prior theory and the re-evaluation of prior fact, an intrinsically revolutionary process that is seldom completed by a single man, and never overnight.' [p 7]
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Lloyd, G E R (editor), and J Chadwick and W N Mann, I M Lonie, E T Withington (translators), Hippocratic Writings, Penguin Books 1983 Jacket: 'Hippocrates of Cos is perhaps the best-known doctor of all time. His insistence on meticulous observation and the physical causation of illness, coupled with a rejection of supernatural causes made him and his associates pioneers of the scientific method. The writings in this volume are the work of a number of men as well as Hippocrates. ... this is a representative collection of the Hippocratic writings in one volume.'
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Lonergan, Bernard J F, Insight : A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '... Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding'
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Popper, Karl Raimund, Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge, Routledge and Kegan Paul 1972 Preface: 'The way in which knowledge progresses, and expecially our scientific knowledge, is by unjustified (and unjustifiable) anticipations, by guesses, by tentative solutions to our problems, by conjectures. These conjectures are controlled by criticism; that is, by attempted refutations, which include severely critical tests.' [p viii]
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Popper, Karl Raimund, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, 1992 Jacket: 'A striking picture of the logical character of scientific discovery is presented here ... Science is presented as ... the attempt to find a coherent theory of the world composed of bold conjectures and disciplines by penetrating criticism.'
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Papers
| Hubler, Graham K, "Fluff balls of fire", Nature, 403, 6769, 3 February 2000, page 487-488. 'The most mysterious sort of lightning is ball lightning - glowing spheres of light that float in air. New theory claims to explain nearly all the properties of these unusual balls of fire.'. back |
| Seltz, Frederick, "Decline of the generalist", Nature, 403, 6769, 3 February 2000, page 483. Millennium Essay: 'The vigour of every discipline depends on people of broad vision'. back |
Links
| Accademia dei Lincei - Wikipedia, Accademia dei Lincei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Accademia dei Lincei . . . (literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is an Italian science academy, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy.' back |
| Alfred Tarski, The semantic concept of truth and the foundation of semantics, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 4 (1944)., Originally published in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 4(1994). 'Our discussion will be centered around the notion of truth. The main problem is that of giving a satisfactory definition of this notion, i.e. a definition that is materially adequate and formally correct. . . . ' back |
| Aquinas 13, Summa: I 2 3: Whether God exists?, I answer that the existence of God can be proved in five ways. The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. . . . The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause. . . . The third way is taken from possibility and necessity . . . The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things. . . . The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world. back |
| Brown University, Brown University Scholarly Technology Group Overview, 'STG maintains expertise in the critical new technologies that support scholarly work in the digital medium and help guarantee its longevity: XML publication tools, text encoding and metadata standards, database design, and accessibility standards.' back |
| Culture - Wikipedia, Culture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Culture (Latin: cultura, lit. "cultivation") is a modern concept based on a term first used in classical antiquity by the Roman orator Cicero: "cultura animi" (cultivation of the soul). . . . In the 20th century, "culture" emerged as a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of human phenomena that cannot be attributed to genetic inheritance.' back |
| Cybernetics - Wikipedia, Cybernetics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to control theory and systems theory. Both in its origins and in its evolution in the second-half of the 20th century, cybernetics is equally applicable to physical and social (that is, language-based) systems.' back |
| Epistemology - Wikipedia, Epistemology - Wikipedia,the free encylopedia, 'Epistemology . . . (from Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistēmē), meaning "knowledge, science", and λόγος (logos), meaning "study of") is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge. It addresses the questions:
What is knowledge?
How is knowledge acquired?
How do we know what we know?' back |
| Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Galileo Galilei (. . . 15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly known as Galileo, was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science".' back |
| History of scholarship - Wikipedia, History of scholarship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The history of scholarship is the historical study of fields of study which are not covered by the English term "science" (cf., history of science), but are covered by, for example, the German term "Wissenschaft" (i.e., all kinds of academic studies). Examples are the history of classical studies, the history of the study of religions, of philosophy, of Biblical studies, of historiography, of the study of music, arts etc. It is a field which has recently undergone a complete renewal and is now a major branch of research.' back |
| History of science - Wikipedia, History of science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The history of science is the study of the historical development of science and scientific knowledge, including both the natural sciences and social sciences.' back |
| Natural selection - Wikipedia, Natural selection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Natural selection is the process by which favorable traits that are heritable become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable traits that are heritable become less common. Natural selection acts on the phenotype, or the observable characteristics of an organism, such that individuals with favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less favorable phenotypes. If these phenotypes have a genetic basis, then the genotype associated with the favorable phenotype will increase in frequency in the next generation. Over time, this process can result in adaptations that specialize organisms for particular ecological niches and may eventually result in the emergence of new species.' back |
| Ray Scott Percival, The Karl Popper Web, back |
| Revelation - Wikipedia, Revelation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.' back |
| Theology - Wikipedia, Theology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Augustine of Hippo defined the Latin equivalent, theologia, as "reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity"; Richard Hooker defined "theology" in English as "the science of things divine". The term can, however, be used for a variety of different disciplines or forms of discourse. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument (philosophical, ethnographic, historical, spiritual and others) to help understand, explain, test, critique, defend or promote any of myriad religious topics.' back |
| University of Toronto, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion: Bibliography, 'The focus of this collection is on materials which raise significant issues of METHOD AND THEORY in the academic study of religion. Books and articles on religion or religions, as such, are not included unless they raise significant methodological or theoretical issues. The books, articles and other resources currently on the database are not exhaustive of the subject; they are meant to be the foundation for a growing collection of use to everyone with a professional interest in the subject' back |
Vatican, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 'Goals
– Promoting the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences, and the study of related epistemological questions and issues
– Recognising excellence in science
– Stimulating an interdisciplinary approach to scientific knowledge
– Encouraging international interaction
– Furthering participation in the benefits of science and technology by the greatest number of people and peoples
– Promoting education and the public’s understanding of science
– Ensuring that science works to advance of the human and moral dimension of man
– Achieving a role for science which involves the promotion of justice, development, solidarity, peace, and the resolution of conflict
– Fostering interaction between faith and reason and encouraging dialogue between science and spiritual, cultural, philosophical and religious values
– Providing authoritative advice on scientific and technological matters
– Cooperating with the members of other Academies in a friendly spirit to promote such objectives.' back |
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