Quoting Jim Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >...I would cast the issue being discussed (at least by me) as:
> When we teach students to think critically, to use science and reason to > arrive at conclusions about the world, do we (or should we) be teaching them > that there are certain domains (e.g., religion, morals, tradition, ...) to > which these principles ought not to be applied? Funny, that would be, to a first approximation, the solution arrived at by Thomas Aquinas, which had the dual result of (1) opening the church of the high middle ages to science and philosophy (contrary to what most non-philosophers seem to assume, philosophy was regarded by conservatives of the middle ages as a dangerous rational alternative to theology), and (2) getting Thomas canonized. It was a great moment in the history of reason, and for a long while European civilization (and its new world offshoots) steadily built upon its foundation, leading eventually to Jim's second point that (for a time) many of us: > maintain[ed] that science and reason should be core to all our beliefs > (and ideally our behaviors), to the extent that is possible. But now it would appear that we have slid back to the point where we are going to have to fight all these (very) old battles all over again. Sigh. Regards, Chris Green --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
