With these statements, you demonstrate little study of Philosophy or
Science.
Science at one time had the definition of being the search for
"truth" ... This was true in the Middle Ages when the Church
controlled all higher institutions of learning in Europe and the
search for knowledge was akin to the study of "God's Truth".
That is no longer the definition of science, the modern definition of
science dates from 1933. Science and Truth are not related other than
semantically.
Truth, Reality, and similar concepts are part of Philosophy:
---
philosophy
noun ( pl. -phies)
the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and
existence, esp. when considered as an academic discipline.
- a set of views and theories of a particular philosopher concerning
such study or an aspect of it : a clash of rival socialist philosophies.
- the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of
knowledge or experience : the philosophy of science.
- a theory or attitude held by a person or organization that acts as
a guiding principle for behavior : don't expect anything and you
won't be disappointed, that's my philosophy.
ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French philosophie, via Latin from
Greek philosophia ‘love of wisdom.’
---
Science deals with systematic study of the observable world, which
may or may not be "true" or "real".
Godfrey
On Mar 29, 2006, at 10:16 AM, Tom C wrote:
Nothing unreal exists.
Something that is not real cannot be studied in the sense of
detecting, measuring, or collecting empirical evidence. It's
always something real or the manifestation of something real that
is studied. Science (used loosely) or those studying a particular
thing may not understand what it is they are studying and therefore
go off on errant paths making hypothesis that postulate the
existence of something unreal.
I would venture to say that if science is the search for and
obtaining of knowledge, and that knowledge is unflawed, therefore
can be called true (truth), that it is also real. Those things
found to be unreal "drop off the radar", as they are not real, and
are realized to be scientifically untrue.
Tom C.
Science is defined to be:
---
science:
noun
The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the
systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical
and natural world through observation and experiment : the world
of science and technology.
- a particular area of this : veterinary science | the
agricultural sciences.
- a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular
subject : the science of criminology.
- archaic knowledge of any kind.
ORIGIN Middle English (denoting knowledge): from Old French, from
Latin scientia, from scire ‘know.’
---
Note that this definition has no mention of the words "real" or
"reality" in it. Notions of reality are part of philosophy
(typically metaphysics and epistemology), not science.
Godfrey
