Hi
On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, G. Marc Turner wrote:
> After trying to stay out of this...
Let me know your secret, will you?!
> At 03:50 PM 6/15/99 -0500, Jim wrote:
> >Scientific knowledge encompasses far more than methods and to try
> >to claim that the sum total of scientific knowledge is unchanged
> >from even a decade ago, let alone centuries ago, strikes me as
> >bizarre. Claims or evasions like this just strengthen my sense
>
> So, science is defined by the content (i.e., knowledge it encompasses, the
> facts and figures, etc) not by the process?
I'm not too certain whether "defined by" is the proper wording.
I guess I would say that science _is_ both the content and the
process. So in making claims about whether or not science has
changed (i.e., evolved, progressed, ...) we need to consider the
totality of science. It is changes in the content that have been
so marked as to be characterized by some as revolutions.
Moreover, one of the central themes in the study of science is
how new ideas emerge and come to be adopted by the scientific
community. The emphasis on creativity is another indicator of
the centrality of change and innovation in science, and again
concerns content more than standard scientific methods.
> I feel like some are simply stating that even though some of
> the basic tenets of religion have not changed, the
> interpretations have. Much as the scientific method has not
> changed over time, but the interpretation of our observations
> of nature have changed as we've observed more. Just as
> religious interpretations have changed over time.
Marc's quote nicely illustrates to me the unbalanced comparison
that is being made. He talks about the "basic tenets of
religion" as analogous to the "scientific method." But the basic
tenets of religion are propositions about the world, not
primarily or even largely methodological. It is science's
propositions about the world that have so dramatically changed
and continue to do so, and that is what should be compared to the
core beliefs about the world in various religions.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9313
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L02A
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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