[net-gold] The Modern Rift Between Physics and Philosophy #2
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:50:42 -0500 (EST)
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Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:33:10 -0800
From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: AERA-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Net-Gold] The Modern Rift Between Physics and Philosophy #2
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This post is removes an error in an earlier post
of yesterday 22 Feb 2012. Sorry for the bother.
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If you reply to this long (12 kB) post please
don't hit the reply button unless you prune the
copy of this post that may appear in your reply
down to a few relevant lines, otherwise the
entire already archived post may be needlessly
resent to subscribers.
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ABSTRACT: My post "Physicist Steven Weinberg's
Essay 'AGAINST PHILOSOPHY' [Hake (2012)]
initiated a thread on the HOPOS-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/yYS4eW> which had grown to 10
posts on 22 Feb 2012 16:19-0800. I give excepts
from the posts of philosophers Kristian Camilleri
and Val Dusek, both pointing out the modern rift
between physics and philosophy.
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The philosophically inclined might be interested
in recent posts by philosophers Kristian
Camilleri (2012) and Val Dusek (2012) on the
HOPOS-L archiives at <http://bit.ly/yYS4eW>, both
part of a HOPOS-L thread which had grown to 10
posts on 22 Feb 2012 16:19-0800, initiated by my
post "Physicist Steven Weinberg's Essay 'AGAINST
PHILOSOPHY') " [Hake (2012)]. Both Camilleri and
Val Dusek bemoan the modern rift between physics
and philosophy.
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Camilleri's post begins [bracketed by lines
"CCCC. . . ."; my inserts at ". . . . [[insert]].
. . ."]:
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CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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Perhaps it's worth reflecting on the way the
historical relationship between physics and
philosophy throughout shifted throughout the
course of the 20th century.
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When physicists like Weinberg. . . .[[see, e.g.,
"Dreams of a Final Theory: The Search for the
Fundamental Laws of Nature" (Weinberg, 1993)]]. .
. .were often critical of philosophy for its
failure to provide any guidance for practicing
physicists, it never occurred to them to ask what
physics could contribute to philosophy. This
marks a stark contrast with that earlier
generation of European physicists, including
Einstein, Bohr, Weyl, etc., who saw a "reciprocal
relationship" between science and epistemology as
essential to both. Indeed in his autobiographical
essay, Max von Laue . . . . .[in "My Development
as a Physicist: An Autobiography" (von Laue,
1952, p. 288 )]]. . . . . . . . went so far as
to say:
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"physics seems to derive its real dignity only
from the fact that it provides an essential
resource for philosophy. My conception is that
all the sciences must be grouped around
philosophy as their common centre and that
service to philosophy is their real purpose. . .
. . .[[ Thus, and only thus, can the unity of
scientific culture be preserved in the face of
ever increasing specialization; without this
unity our whole culture would be destined to
disintegrate.]]. . . . ."
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Evidently the perceived relationship between the
physics and philosophy is informed by the
particular historical-cultural context in which
those disciplines are situated.
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CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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Dusek's post begins [My CAPS; my inserts at ". . . . [[insert]]. . . ."]:]
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DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
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During the first half of the twentieth century,
many leading theorists of modern physics were
also philosophers and humanistic scholars.
Werner Heisenberg first learned of atoms, not in
a physics text, but from reading Plato's Timaeus.
He claimed that later reading of the same work
(in Greek) for relaxation during lunch break had
some influence on his conception of uncertainty
in physical reality. . . . . [[see e.g., Chapter
IV. "Quantum Theory and the Roots of Atomic
Science" in "Physics and Philosophy: The
Revolution in Modern Science" (Heisenberg, 1988,
2000)]]. . . Schrödinger took his lab notes in
classical Greek and wrote as did Heisenberg about
the Presocratic philosophers. . . .[[
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Socratic_philosophy>]].
. . . in his search for a way to understand
subatomic reality.
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After W.W.II, with the congealing of the official
interpretation of quantum theory, and the rise of
big science, philistinism took over. FEYNMAN, A
LEADING GENIUS OF THE PERIOD, DESPISED
PHILOSOPHY, though he often misrepresented the
positions of philosophers he ridiculed. His
proudly dismissive attitude toward philosophers
was linked with unconscious personifications of
Nature and an implicit philosophy of a plurality
of causes in mechanics resembling that (he would
be horrified to hear) of Aristotle. . . . ..
PHYSICIST AND SCIENCE ESSAYIST JEREMY BERNSTEIN,
IN REACTION TO THE MENTION OF THE INFLUENCE OF
HINDU THOUGHT ON SCHRÖDINGER'S LATER WRITINGS,
REPLIED SIMPLY "YOGIC, SCHMOGIC," and claimed
recently that only an historian of physics would
have any interest in reading Niels Bohr, the
creator of the standard, "Copenhagen
interpretation" of quantum mechanics. Einstein
and Heisenberg read the philosopher Kant as
teenagers, and the Kantian strain in Bohr and
Heisenberg is an alien realm to late twentieth
century Anglo-American physicists.
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The changed situation in twentieth century
philosophy is similar. In the 1920s, not only
Henri Bergson, but also Whitehead, and George
Herbert Mead with their "objective relativism,"
strove mightily to grapple with the general
philosophical consequences of Einstein's
relativity theory (whatever one may think of
their particular conclusions). Today in
Anglo-American philosophy the philosophers of
science discuss such issues, but usually without
attempting in any way to discuss their
implications for culture or for patterns of
thought in general, saying, with W. V. O. Quine,
that "Philosophy of science is philosophy
enough." On the other hand, MOST GENERAL
ANALYTICAL SOCIAL PHILOSOPHERS DON'T EVEN TRY TO
GRAPPLE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF CONTEMPORARY
SCIENCE AND MATH FOR OUR WORLDVIEW, and often
uncritically and tacitly presuppose older, flawed
interpretations.
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DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
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Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
Academia: <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>\
Twitter <https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake>
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REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 22 Feb 2012;
most shortened by <http://bit.ly/>.]
Bricmont, J. & A. Sokal. 2000. "Reply to
Turnbull, Krips, Dusek, and Fuller for
Metascienc; online as a 45 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/A1AEyE>.
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Camilleri, K. 2012. "Re: Physicist Steven
Weinberg's Essay "AGAINST PHILOSOPHY" (was
"References for Hermeneutics of Physics"), online
on the CLOSED! HOPOS-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/wax7Am>. Post of 22 Feb 2012
03:39:41+0000 to HOPOS-L. To access the archives
of HOPOS-L one needs to subscribe :-(, but that
takes only a few minutes by clicking on
<http://bit.ly/yYS4eW> and then clicking on
"Subscribe or Unsubscribe" in the right-hand
column. If you're busy, then subscribe using the
"NOMAIL" option under "Miscellaneous." Then, as a
subscriber, you may access the archives and/or
post messages at any time, while receiving NO
MAIL from the list!]
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Dusek, V. 2000. "Review of "Intellectual
Impostures" [Sokal & Metascience 9(3)]; online at
<http://bit.ly/xKkXpD>. For a response see Sokal
& Bricmont (2000)].
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Dusek, V. 2012. "Re: Physicist Steven Weinberg's
Essay "AGAINST PHILOSOPHY" (was "References for
Hermeneutics of Physics"), online on the CLOSED!
HOPOS-L archives at <http://bit.ly/xScuGJ>. Post
of 22 Feb 2012 09:06:40-0500 to HOPOS-L.
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Dusek, V. 2012. "Review of "Intellectual
Impostures" (Sokal & J. Bricmont, 2003),
Metascience 9.3; online at
<http://physics.nyu.edu/sokal/dusek.html>.
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Hake, R.R. 2012. "Physicist Steven Weinberg's
Essay 'AGAINST PHILOSOPHY' (was 'References for
Hermeneutics of Physics'), " online on the OPEN!
AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/xupPFH>. Post
of 20 Feb 2012 16:48:24-0800 to AERA-L and
Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete
post are being transmitted to several discussion
lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
<http://bit.ly/zWfVlX> with a provision for
comments.
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Heisenberg, W. 2000. "Physics and Philosophy:
The Revolution in Modern Science," Penguin
Classics. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/zFou0j>, note the searchable
"Look Inside" feature. According to
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg>
this book was first published as "Physik und
Philosophie: Weltperspektiven" in 1988.
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Metascience. 2000. "Clarity, charity and
criticism, wit, wisdom and worldliness: Avoiding
intellectual impositions" David Turnbull, Henry
Krips, Val Dusek, Steve Fuller, Alan Sokal, et
al. 9(3): 347-498. The first page is online at
<http://bit.ly/Adrg4f>.
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Sokal, A. & J. Bricmont._ 2003. "Intellectual
Impostures: Postmodern Philosophers' Abuse of
Science." Profile Books. Amazon.com information
at <http://amzn.to/yQcPup>, note the searchable
"Look Inside" feature.
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von Laue, M. 1952. "My Development as a
Physicist: An Autobiography," online as a 2.3 MB
at <http://bit.ly/zNRN66>
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Weinberg, S. 1993. "Dreams of a Final Theory: The
Search for the Fundamental Laws of Nature,"
Random House, publisher's information at
<http://bit.ly/wxzk3t>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/A7sLBa>. See especially Chapter 7
"Against Philosophy". See also Weinberg (2001).
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Weinberg, S. 2001. "Facing Up: Science and Its
Cultural Adversaries" Harvard University Press,
publisher's information at
<http://bit.ly/zPKgO5>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/zoakbD>.
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