The history of the philosophy of science is the history of the way we relate to our symbols. At the center of all of our complex, intertwined, inconsistent ideas about knowledge and materiality is a basic faith in a fundamental nature of things. We must assume there is a knowable relationship between theory and practice; …
Monthly Archives: October 2007
Science Studies, Part 3: Eating the menu
On the surface, science is all specialized vocabularies and inscrutable instrumentation. But a peak just beneath the surface tension reveals that it rests on an ocean of faith in symbols. At one level, science is the whole mess of institutionalized structures–labs, journals, funding lines, paperwork, test tubes, universities, and scientists–that collectively structure practical knowledge about …
Science Studies, Part 2: Correspondence fantasies
I see mirrors everywhere. Maybe it’s because I’m imposing my own mental schema on the rest of the world. After all, Kant was right when he said, “Our intellect does not draw its laws from nature but imposes its laws on nature.” Or maybe it’s because mirrors are easier to see than other things. After …
