Showing posts with label philosophy of science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philosophy of science. Show all posts

Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism Review

Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism
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Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism ReviewRichard Carrier is a graduate student of history (M.Phil Columbia) and a prolific essayist, publishing primarily on the well-known secular website infidels.org. In this book he surveys all that he has come to know and believe, and how he came to know or believe it. Reading it is like being given a guided tour, by a genial and charming host, through a large and well-furnished mansion of the mind.
I purchased "Sense & Goodness Without God" because of an interest in secular ethics. I was disappointed on that account to find that Carrier's discussion of morality -- although it is interesting and enlightening -- occupies only a small part of the book. The many other topics covered justified my purchase, but in order to keep others from being mislead by the title, here is a key quote from the introduction:
"This book surveys my philosophy of life, my 'worldview' ... I build and defend a complete worldview by covering every fundamental subject -- from knowledge to art, from metaphysics to morality, from theology to politics."
That Carrier even owns a complete, personal worldview makes him a rare bird. He rightly faults most of us for spending next to no time thinking through what we know and believe; and for being too willing to settle for the "factory-made" philosophies dispensed under the name of Religion, instead of taking the time to understand the big ideas for ourselves. In effect, this book is his challenge to his contemporaries: agree with me or not, he seems to say, these are topics you need to think through on your own -- and here is how to do it.
You might wonder if any writer can do justice to such a smorgasbord of ideas. Carrier does very well; he is exceptionally well-read, has thought hard on these issues, and clearly explains both the context and his own position on each point. Just the same, this is a survey, and there is much, much more to be said and thought about any of the topics he covers.
Also, Carrier does what so many other secular writers do: spends many, many paragraphs refuting religious ideas and rebutting the Christian philosophers who would deny legitimacy to his positions. The section on Morality, for example, is almost entirely cast as a point-by-point refutation of positions taken by Christian apologist J.P. Moreland. These one-sided debates eat up pages that I would far rather have seen devoted to more detailed exposition of Carrier's own thoughts. Those thoughts are generally sane, well-grounded, generous and reasonable, sometimes surprising, and always worth spending time with.Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism Overview

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Discussion of the Method: Conducting the Engineer's Approach to Problem Solving (Engineering & Technology) Review

Discussion of the Method: Conducting the Engineer's Approach to Problem Solving (Engineering and Technology)
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Discussion of the Method: Conducting the Engineer's Approach to Problem Solving (Engineering & Technology) ReviewThis book came recommended to me by a professional engineer. As I started turning the pages during a first skim read, it struck me that Koen has brought together a huge amount of experience on engineering with a deep understanding of philosophy (to his credit, both Western and Eastern) plus a range subjects from classical literature, world religion and the vagarities of world languages and forged them into a brilliant synthesis of remarkable clarity and originality.
His central thesis is "All is heuristic" (All is rule of thumb). He has surrounded this argument with a phalynx of other heuristics (59 in total)that range from the practical (e.g., at some point in the project, freeze the design) to the metaphysical (e.g., sincerity of belief and the inability to disbelieve are poor justifications for claiming that a belief is true) to the paradoxical (e.g., if a concept produces paradoxes, unexplained complexities or unexpected departures from expected results, better consider it a heuristic)
In writing this book, Koen has both mastered and melded a number of seemingly imiscable disciplines - philosophy, linguistics, theology - with his own professional field of engineering (he is professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Texas at Austin and a fellow of the American Nuclear Society). It is reminiscent of the way that Thomas Acquinas reconciled Christianity with Philosophy.
This is no mean feat, and Koen's book, unpretentiously entitled "a discussion", is an intellectual tour of the first order. Of course, his many references mean so much more if you are familiar with them. If you haven't, be sure to look them up - your life will be immeasurably enriched. In any event, Koen illuminates a path to greater understanding. His prose is very engaging and the book is well suited for general audiences. It is one of those books that begs to be read and re-read.
One can only wonder if Koen's book had been available earlier (it was published in 2003), would we have been faced with such disasters as Challenger and Columbia, as the Ford Explorer, Chevy Corvair, Ford Pinto, Bhopal, etc. A little more humility with the inherent uncertainties of engineering life might have made a positive difference. This book strives hard - and I believe succeeds - at doing just that. Bravo, Professor Koen for shedding new light on old problems. It comes as no surprise that Koen has won high awards for teaching excellence (W. Leighton Collins and Centennial Medallion) - both from the American Society of Engineering Education.Discussion of the Method: Conducting the Engineer's Approach to Problem Solving (Engineering & Technology) Overview

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Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework Review

Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework
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Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework ReviewGerring's unique take on the endless methodological battles among social scientists--quantitative versus qualitative, interpretivists versus positivists, modelers versus historical institutionalists--will help you understand what's really at stake when academics debate methodologies. But more than that, this book will help you rethink your own approach to methodological issues. Political scientists, I beseech you: throw away the stale, pat homilies of KKV, and learn from someone who's thought more and probed deeper into core issues in social science methodology.Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework Overview

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Introduction to Paradigms: Overview, Definitions, Categories, Basics, Optimizing Paradigms & Paradigm Engines Review

Introduction to Paradigms: Overview, Definitions, Categories, Basics, Optimizing Paradigms and Paradigm Engines
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Introduction to Paradigms: Overview, Definitions, Categories, Basics, Optimizing Paradigms & Paradigm Engines ReviewIn my view, this is a Nobel Peace Prize level of reflection that demands broad digestion. This is USEFUL.
I was immediately impressed by the early portion of the book, at which point I went to the back and reviewed the bibliography, which is an impressive mix of philosophical, scientific, documented conspiracy, and systems thinking.
The author takes the trouble to describe his bouncing around different school systems, which is a completely credible way of explaining how he came early on to understand that most teachers are teaching belief rather than reality.
The book provides an easily-read clear-cut solution for eradicating the ten high-level threats identified by the United Nations (LtGen Dr. Brent Scowcroft representing the USA). This book is a perfect complement to [Collapse of Complex Societies]. I am especially taken with how the author shows paradigms in all their relevance to the human condition and to optimizing society.
There are 23 figures, all of them helpful to the architects of the EarthGame(tm) who wish to focus on reality including the charting of belief systems as they differ from reality.
The author teaches us that paradigms, and the ability to think in paradigmatic terms, are essential to:
1) Achieve the desired outcomes efficiently; and
2) AVOID the bias, corruption, disinformation, manipulation, and withholding of information that is so characteristic of Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids and The Pathology of Power - A Challenge to Human Freedom and Safety.
The purpose of paradigms is to help human manipulate (sic) the environment. The author states and only one in ten thousand understands what a paradigm is, and laments the reality that when a paradigm in power (e.g. the neoconservative paradigm) does not parallel reality, humanity suffers in catastrophic terms.
The author points out that the prevailing Machiavellian paradigm of exploiting people continues to displace the more appropriate non-violent collaborative community paradigms of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela.
His list of failing paradigms is extraordinary; in the comments section I provide a link to my own Op-Ed on this matter written before I bought this book. He specifies:
*Education
*Employment
*National Debt
*Environment
*Food Supply
*Sick Care
*Exclusive versus Inclusive Society
*Failure of the Communist Model (allows immoral capitalism to avoid social costs)
*Event manipulation, disinformation, and cover-up.
Separately the author discusses the failure of the US financial paradigm of debt, arms subsidies, and foreign adventurism that are all unaffordable and unsustainable. The Comptroller General of the USA agrees with him, and recently informed Congress that the USA is officially "insolvent." I am NOT making this up.
The author describes paradigms as essential sense-making, pattern detecting, anomaly isolating frames of reference, and tells us there are four categories:
1) Action
2) Communication
3) Information
4) Societal
Paradigms, the author tells us, consist of factors and relationships and are best maintained by:
1) Optimizing the Truth Quotient
2) Keeping it current
3) Eliminating bias
4) Retiring & replacing as needed
Only paradigmatic thinking (along with reading, writing, mathematics, and ethics) should be taught. People need to learn how to take a "360° look" at any issue, and to recognize competing paradigms and belief systems.
The author tells us that today's real battle is not over or between paradigms, but among the larger existential challenges to Humanity:
1) Truth versus Deception
2) Survival versus Extinction
3) Enlightenment versus Exploitation
4) Living the Dream versus the Nightmare of Subsistence
5) Doing Your Thing versus Doing Someone Else's Thing
Human integrate four distinct forms of knowing and doing:
1) Body
2) Mind
3) Spirit
4) Emotion
Perceptions are biases by
1) Dimensionality
2) Paradigm filters
3) Perceptors
4) Vested interests
Efficacy is the only proof of a paradigm. The following are NOT "proof" of a paradigm: authority, legislation, logic, conviction, eloquence, poetry, rhetoric, polemics, magic tricks, ridicule, ad hominum attacks, cartoons, art, theatrics, hysteria, religion, terrorism, extortion, monopoly, fanaticism, science, law suits, nor mathematics.
Four primary paradigms that are in competition but can also be blended:
1) Authoritarian
2) Scientist
3) Empiricist (engineer that "does")
4) New Age
The author states that children have a right to be taught the truth and be taught unbiased paradigms.
Among the most terribly failed paradigms in USA the author cites, in addition to health, the Federal Reserve which usurps the Constitutional role of the US Treasury; the abdication by Congress of its Article 1 responsibilities (see The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Institutions of American Democracy) andBreach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders; and the war on drugs, which is actually a profit-making enterprise for off the books operations (see Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth')
The author ends on an optimistic note, but states that at this time more information is being withheld (unlawfully) from citizens, than is available to citizens. Quite right.
He posits the need to balance among the social roles of dreamer, seeker, exploiter, consumer, referee, and operator, while hoping for the eradication of the perverter (see The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 and Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency)
He ends by defining how to optimize society, suggesting that only four basic skills are needed: reading & writing; mathematics; computer & communications technology end-user skill; and the ability to recognize & evaluate paradigms. He lists 12 occupational categories of importance to a society:
1) Food producer
2) Shelter builder
3) Species reproducer/maintainer
4) Dimensionality increaser
5) Paradigm teacher
6) Environmental preserver
7) Artifact builder
8) External societal defender
9) Internal societal greaser
10) Trader
11) Entertainer
12) Personal fixer (in his view, an honest society with open books and proper health care would eliminate the need for most doctors, lawyers, and accountants).
This is a very serious book by a very serious intellect. It could have "break-out" consequences as we move forward with the EarthGame(tm) and I certainly commend the book to anyone seeking to reflect on how we can displace all the liars and thieves that we have elected or allowed to run corporations that are publicly traded.
See also
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge
Introduction to Paradigms: Overview, Definitions, Categories, Basics, Optimizing Paradigms & Paradigm Engines Overview

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