I’m trying to describe why I think that is exactly the case we’re now dealing with.Ĭertain disciplines like maths, particle physics and their applied fields can certainly carry on day-to-day without worrying too much about the philosophy – I do try to acknowledge this in the article. Or if a group of people (eg postmodernists) can succesfully argue that the ideal doesn’t exist or isn’t worth pursuing. Or if that ideal means different things to different people (ironically). I think you’re right that objectivity has always been held as an ideal to strive towards! But its difficult to work towards an ideal if that ideal is perceived as poorly defined. I’d also be keen to hear from any philosophers familar with Kant to know if my reference to the ‘infinite manifold problem’ is an acceptable appropriation of Kantian language around this subject. Actually, no, I’d be very interested in anyone keen to share thoughts on this problem, which is obviously fairly complex and challenging. I hint at a Part 2, as yet unwritten, where I will no doubt solve this problem and refresh the scientific project in time for the next episode of the Big Bang or whatever I ought to be watching.
I hint this also has implications for other societal functions like journalism, political discourse etc. I also contend that ‘solving’ this selection problem is the chief challenge for those who wish to see the scientific project and the creation of unbiased bodies of knowledge continue (or improve). I claim that the chief difficulty arises from the selection of content for inclusion in scientific questions, answers and descriptions, which is presently arbitrary, unsystematic and rarely formally considered. Objectivity, which I take as an apparently useful and central concept of the scientific project (even when we attempt to use intersubjective verification as a less ambitious proxy), is philosophically and practically flawed, and this presents a major target for postmodernist critics of the scientific project. The recent discussion of postmodernism has encouraged me to post related thoughts that have been percolating on related topics for a while. The death of objectivity – How one concept’s fall threatens the entire scientific project (Part 1/2)
0 kommentar(er)
