Philosophy is Dead

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Philosophy is dead. So says Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their recent publication, The Grand Design. They state this deeply profound statement and then support it with... one sentence. "Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics."

I won't bother going any further right now as to why I think they're off their rockers.

The book does contain lots of profound and interesting scientific insights. But why the authors (both seemingly very intelligent men) think this constitutes a philosophy is beyond me.

So, forum, thoughts, comments, snide remarks?

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@The Outsider,

Yay, philosophy is dead!!!

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Quote:

Philosophy is dead

well, yes I can see that, as techno-science gains in knowledge, speculative philosophy decreases. The question becomes, Is this a positive step for humanity? Does knowledge equate understanding?

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Philosophy is dead
God is dead
hell, we're dead

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I don't think philosophy has tried to answer physics questions for a while Confused

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Is he buried next to god?

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@The Outsider,

It's true that philosophy has not kept up well with physics. That's why I took physics in university instead of philosophy.
Plus I'm skeptical that a formal degree in philosophy is an aid to thinking, rather than a barrier.

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@Alrenous,

Alrenous wrote:

It's true that philosophy has not kept up well with physics.

What nonsense, philosophy of physics has, for a long time, been the most productive field in the philosophy of science.
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/view/subjects/physics.html
http://consc.net/people.html#physics

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@ughaibu,

ughaibu wrote:

Alrenous wrote:
It's true that philosophy has not kept up well with physics.
What nonsense, philosophy of physics has, for a long time, been the most productive field in the philosophy of science.
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/view/subjects/physics.html
http://consc.net/people.html#physics

Your remark it is so obviously right that I can´t figure why you answer to such comment...

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"Philosophy" based on set theoretic logic is certainly dead. It died when wave-particle duality threw out the law of the excluded middle.

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Philosophy is by no means dead - but there are hardly any people around who understand it. They are all obsessed with ownership, profession, and the passing show of the world.

Plato once gave a public lecture on The Good. According to Aristoxenus

Quote:

"Each came expecting to learn something about the things that are generally considered good for men, such as wealth, good health, physical strength, and altogether a kind of wonderful happiness. But when the mathematical demonstrations came, including numbers, geometrical figures and astronomy, and finally the statement Good is One seemed to them, I imagine, utterly unexpected and strange; hence some belittled the matter, while others rejected it."

As they did do, do now, and always will do.

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@Fil Albuquerque,

Do you really expect that throwing a pile of links at me is convincing?

Show me some examples. Show me to the shining city on a hill of philosophy-of-physics papers. Presumably you think it's in one of these lists, so I can just ctrl-f it.

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It is true that philosophy h

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Philosophy isn't dead, but its street value has gone down. It's no longer top shelf. Everyday persons have the ability to gain access to information and even publish intellectual works. Philosophy is retailing at the value of opinions and assholes. Both of which are useful multiple times in the day.

A
R
T

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@Jebediah,

Jebediah wrote:

I don't think philosophy has tried to answer physics questions for a while

is the word "cosmology" in your dictionary?

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@The Outsider,

The Outsider wrote:

Philosophy is dead. So says Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their recent publication, The Grand Design. They state this deeply profound statement and then support it with... one sentence. "Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics."

I won't bother going any further right now as to why I think they're off their rockers.

The book does contain lots of profound and interesting scientific insights. But why the authors (both seemingly very intelligent men) think this constitutes a philosophy is beyond me.

So, forum, thoughts, comments, snide remarks?

Oh, people have been announcing the death of philosophy (or, at least what they think philosophy is) for the last three thousand years. And, as usual, the more certain they feel that philosophy is dead, the more ignorant they are about what philosophy is. As Mark Twain said, when his own death was misreported in some newspapers, "Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated".

If I confused astronomy with astrology, I might also say that astronomy was dead.

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@The Outsider,

In what ways was philosophy to have "kept up" with sciences? They seem to have unwittingly called themselves out for their inability to effectively demonstrate what it is that their sciences mean.

1 Reply

@The Outsider,

The Outsider wrote:

Philosophy is dead. So says Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their recent publication, The Grand Design. They state this deeply profound statement and then support it with... one sentence. "Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics."

I won't bother going any further right now as to why I think they're off their rockers.

The book does contain lots of profound and interesting scientific insights. But why the authors (both seemingly very intelligent men) think this constitutes a philosophy is beyond me.

So, forum, thoughts, comments, snide remarks?

Why should philosophy keep up with physics... Physics can take care of its self, and reason, and science generally are all logical, and logic is easy... Moral forms of moral reality are where our problems lie... It does not matter what science offers humanity, which has been to date both curse, and blessing... If you could double wealth, or double food it would only become more cause for strife because people have not figured out moral reality, and in that task no amount of physics will help.. What Hawkins may not grasp, is that physics is a part of philosophy, and they are not separate pursuits... It is only because morals are so difficult, and and physics is so easy that people have come to think of them as different...

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I'm sceptical of this.

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@thack45,

thack45 wrote:

In what ways was philosophy to have "kept up" with sciences? They seem to have unwittingly called themselves out for their inability to effectively demonstrate what it is that their sciences mean.

As usual, those who know nothing about what they are talking about, sy nothing sensible, but just mouth off. When Hawking demonstrates that he knows what philosophy is all about then he will deserve to be taken seriously. Meanwhile, he is blowing in the wind.

2 Replies

Philosophy is Dead

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