[ExI] The "Unreasonable" Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences

[Stathis Papaioannou]

2008/9/28 Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com>:
> On 9/27/08, Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com> wrote:
>> At 02:00 PM 9/27/2008 +1000, Stathis wrote:
>>
>> > Logical positivism also allows analytic truths as valid. It dismisses
>> > metaphysics as nonsense - "not even wrong"
>>
>>  And one of its basic errors was not grasping that it was itself a
>> metaphysical position.
>
> On the other hand, this is an inconsistency only if one does not
> contemplate the option of consciously adhering to a
> "logical-positivist metaphysic" rather than, say, to a Platonic one.
>
> Or, to put it in other terms, if logical positivism claims to be
> itself a metaphysical and universal "Truth" rather than simply a
> legitimate, elegant and hygienic stance.

That's what working scientists do. They don't seek a metaphysical
justification for the scientific method; it's simply what works.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou