Tag Archives: Philosophy of science

Are the social sciences “real” science?

Posted on March 18, 2017 by

YouTube channel Crash Course is starting a new series on what is perhaps the most social of social sciences: Sociology. The social sciences, such as sociology, but also psychology, economics, anthropology, and other similar fields get a lot of grief … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , | 43 Comments

What do scientific theories actually tell us about the world?

Posted on February 9, 2017 by

One of the things that’s exciting about learning new things, is that often a new understanding in one area sheds light on what might seem like a completely separate topic.  For me, information about how the brain works appears to have shed … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 75 Comments

What would evidence for the non-physical look like? A possible answer.

Posted on June 9, 2016 by

In the last post, I pondered what distinction between the physical and non-physical, noting that I’ve historically resisted the label of “physicalist” or “materialist” maintaining that, if any evidence for the non-physical ever did become available, I’d accept its existence. … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , | 83 Comments

What is physicalism?

Posted on June 6, 2016 by

One label that often gets applied to me is “materialist”, or sometimes “physicalist.”  It’s a label that, while it probably gives an accurate idea of my conception of reality, I’ve generally resisted.  Why?  Because if there were ever any evidence for … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 74 Comments

Steven Weinberg’s new book on the history of science

Posted on February 9, 2015 by

Jerry Coyne has a post up discussing Steven Weinberg’s new book on the history of science, including an exclusive excerpt: Steven Weinberg’s new book on the history of science (with excerpts) « Why Evolution Is True. The portion of the excerpt … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

There is only one dogma of science: truth is better than fantasy

Posted on October 2, 2014 by

Dave Pruett has a post up at the Huffington Post looking at a declaration of eight “eminent” scientists and scholars calling for science to move past its materialistic focus.  The list of authors in this declaration includes Rupert Sheldrake, whose TED … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Massimo Pigliucci on the boundary between science and pseudoscience

Posted on September 26, 2014 by

In this video, Massimo Pigliucci, the philosopher and biologist who runs the Scientia Salon site, discusses the demarcation problem, the dividing line between what is and is not science.  The distinction is easy for things like astrology and astronomy, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

What are your philosophical positions?

Posted on September 14, 2014 by

Tina at Diotima’s Ladder put up a very cool entry: What’s Your Philosophy? | Diotima’s Ladder. BLOGGING EVENT! Tell the world. Don’t be shy. Yes, we’re used to piggy-backing off the famous philosophers, and that’s why I came up with this … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Is logic and mathematics part of science?

Posted on August 26, 2014 by

Last week was scientism week at Scientia Salon, and I reblogged a post by Coel Hellier on a defense of scientism, mostly by arguing that mathematics was actually part of science.  As I indicated in my comment on that reblog, … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Logic has empirical foundations, sort of.

Posted on August 5, 2014 by

Massimo Pigliucci has an interesting post at Scientia Salon on philosophical zombies.  Massimo looks at David Chalmers’s argument for philosophical zombie arguments and, I think, does an excellent job at showing the problems with them.  But in the discussion, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , | 42 Comments