Demarcation and the Scientistic Fallacy

Abstract. For many theologians and philosophers, scientism is among the greatest of intellectual sins. In its most commonly cited form, scientism consists in claiming that science is the only source of real knowledge and, therefore, that what science does not discover does not exist. Because the charge of scientism is frequently levied, it is important to be clear about what exactly is being claimed in its name. I argue that scientism can best be understood as a fallacy, specifically as a kind of category mistake. Being clear about this requires an examination of the relationship of scientism to the question of demarcation between science and nonscience, a question that has potential implications for theology.     

斯唐热的科学划界观

科学划界是科学哲学的核心论题之一。比利时科学哲学家斯唐热对此作了与众不同的思考,它既不同于规范认识论,也有别于社会建构论。斯唐热的总体思路是非相对主义智者与肯定的建构论。据此,她对科学的特权与独特性概念进行了区分,并以伽利略和斜面实验为例具体阐释了现代科学的独特性。在她看来,科学的独特性在于它能够凭借有效的手段将自身与任意的假设或意见区别开来,这与拉图尔提出的强修辞有较大的相似性。     

Colour and Consciousness: Untying the Metaphysical Knot

Colours and consciousness both present us with metaphysical problems. But what exactly are the problems? According to standard accounts, they are roughly the following. On the one hand, we have reason to believe, about both colour and consciousness, that they are identical with some familiar natural phenomena. But on the other hand, it is hard to see how these identities could obtain. I argue that this is an adequate characterisation of our metaphysical problem of colour, but a mischaracterisation of the problem of consciousness. It mischaracterises the problem by presenting consciousness as more ‘colour-like’ than we have reason to take it to be. The real problem of consciousness is, I suggest, that almost nothing theoretically useful is known about this phenomenon at present. I also explore some implications of this perspective on the problem of consciousness. Given the shape of the problem, I argue that we can’t rule out all forms of eliminativism about consciousness. Nor can we rule out that future research will close the ‘explanatory gap’ that consciousness gives rise to.     

科学划界与中医

科学划界就是在科学与非科学之间作出区分,依据科学划界的逻辑主义的绝对标准、历史主义的相对标准以及重建划界的多元标准,中医不晃科学,但中医也不是伪科学,而是一门实用的技艺,因此中医科学化、现代化及中西医结合的提法有待于进一步商榷。我们反对把中医伪科学化,中医的出路只有一条,那就是融入现代医学的发展之中,为医学的发展而奉出自己的经验和思路。     

死亡界限标准的法律研究

脑死亡问题,近年来,成为医学、法学、哲学、伦理学研究的焦点问题,迫切需要尽快给予解决,以制定出适合我国国情的统一的界限死亡标准。1　死亡界限标准的提出人作为自然界中具有生命的生物体,要维护其正常的生命活动,吐故纳新,进行新陈代谢,需要心脏“泵”的作用和肺脏与外界空气之间的气体交换不断地进行,心、肺功能的丧失,即可导致人体死亡。在死亡的过程中,人体会出现许多生理机能的改变和死亡征象,根据哪些机能改变和征象才能尽可能早地确定人体已经死亡?人们经过劳动实践和总结以往的经验,逐渐形成了以心跳、呼吸停止作为确定死亡的标…     

Science and Religion: Some Demarcation Criteria

Discussions on the congruence, compatibility, and contradictions between science and religion have been going on since the rise of modern science. In our own times, there are many efforts to build bridges of harmony between the two. Most of these are anchored to particular religious traditions or denominations and also (often) to specific disciplines, notably cosmology, physics, and biology. Though these discussions serve commendable purposes for members of specific faiths and/or disciplines, they are also, for precisely this reason, of restricted appeal. There are not too many discussions of the topic that consider science and religion from a global perspective. It will therefore be useful to define science and religion in terms of their unique characteristics, draw the line of demarcation between them, and show where they overlap. This is what this paper attempts to do.     

Rouse-ing out the Legitimation Project: Scientific Practice and the Problem of Demarcation

This essay critically examines Joseph Rouse's arguments against what he dubs the 'legitimation project', which are the attempts to delimit and justify the scientific enterprise by means of global, 'a priori' principles. Stipulating that a more adequate picture of science can be obtained by viewing it as a continuously transforming pattern of situated activities, Rouse believes that only by refocusing attention upon the actual practice of science can philosophers begin to detach themselves from the irresolvable epistemological problems that have remained the primary byproduct of the traditional philosophical approach. On closer inspection, however, Rouse's project appears susceptible to the criticism that it is either too relativistic to do the work he envisioned for it, or that it participates in the very same legitimation venture that it was intended to replace (in addition to its own brand of metaphysical/epistemological problems). This unexpected outcome, moreover, suggests that such legitimation projects may be an integral component of the very practice of science, contrary to Rouse's estimate.     

Permeability and Demarcation in the Psychoanalytic Process Functions of the Contact‐Barrier1

Introjection, identifi cation and projection are concepts that designate processes in which something is being put into or taken out of something else. These processes presuppose the overcoming of some form of separation between two entities. The permeability or impermeability of a fi ctive boundary between the representations of subject and object set the emotional tone of their coexistence. There are moments of complete diffusion, in which subject and object can no longer be differentiated, and moments of autistic enclosure in which the individual can no longer be reached at all. Permeability and demarcation result from the processing of stimuli carried out by the ‘contact‐barrier’, as an ego function. Stimuli of internal, libidinal or aggressive origin, as well as ‘im‐pressions’ of external origin, are classifi ed and processed with the aid of various kinds of factors arising from coagulated object‐relational experiences. Whereas for Freud the contact‐barrier regulates the quantity of energy and founds a topographical structure, Bion understands the contact‐barrier as a psychic function that simultaneously regulates boundary demarcation and making contact. In the psychoanalytic process, the contact‐barrier created by patient and analyst regulates the events in the transference and countertransference. An awareness of the struggle for contact and demarcation at the dynamic boundary representations that are constantly being recreated by both partners in the analytic process may be helpful in our clinical work. The author presents an examination of the ways in which patient and analyst make contact and demarcate the boundaries, which provides a better understanding of the dynamics of transference processes. He demonstrates this in relation to clinical material.     

科学划界:"猴子审判"案例分析

自上个世纪后期以来,20世纪哲学四大主题之一的科学划界研究陷入了进退两难的境地。该文从科学划界的视角出发,分析了科学家和创世论者在“猴子审判”这一著名案件中的辩护与反驳,揭示了特定的社会、文化和政治因素对科学划界标准的影响,并且指出在现实社会中研究有关的科学争论,从研究科学精英的科学观转向研究社会公众的科学观,可能是有助于摆脱这一困境的努力方向。     

Matters of Demarcation: Philosophy,Biology, and the Evolving Fraternity between Disciplines

The influence that philosophy of science has had on scientific practice is as controversial as it is undeniable, especially in the case of biology. The dynamic between philosophy and biology as disciplines has developed along two different lines that can be characterized as ‘paternal’, on the one hand, and more ‘fraternal’, on the other. The role Popperian principles of demarcation and falsifiability have played in both the systematics community as well as the ongoing evolution–creation debates illustrate these contrasting forms of interdisciplinary engagement, underscoring the influence philosophy of science in shaping our contemporary understanding of biology in the North American context. However, a strict disciplinary distinction between philosophy and science may itself be a false dichotomy that risks hampering future development of the biological sciences. By actively engaging with philosophical considerations as an integral part of their scientific practice, nineteenth‐century biologists offer an interesting counterpoint to current trends of overspecialization and provide a model of scientists who avoided extremes of antagonism with, or subservience to, philosophy.     

Theravada Buddhism and Roman Catholicism on the Moral Permissibility of Palliative Sedation: A Blurred Demarcation Line

Journal of Religion and Health - Although Theravada Buddhism and Roman Catholicism agree on the moral justification for palliative sedation, they differ on the premises underlying the...     

Filler + Infinitive and Pre- and Protomorphology Demarcation in a French Acquisition Corpus

This paper presents a case study on the acquisition of grammatical morphemes via fillers, i.e., underspecified place holders, with particular focus on early structures made up of a filler followed by an infinitive. The path leading from fillers to French semi-auxiliaries and subject clitics is analyzed within the framework of Natural Morphology and constructivism which assumes that grammatical modules are not innate but are constructed by children. The evolution of fillers in the corpus studied is described as a grammaticization process of form and meaning through successive linguistic dissociations. Emphasis is put on the functional polyvalence of fillers and on their relation to the main phases in the construction of grammar.     

Cutting scores and errors of measurement

Arguments for using multiple cutting scores are theoretically inapplicable when the selection measures are fallible. The effect of errors of measurement in altering the shape of some optimum selection regions is here investigated mathematically, with numerical illustrations, for the case of two selection variables.This work was supported by contract Nonr-2752(00) between the Office of Naval Research and Educational Testing Service. Reproduction in whole or in part for any purpose of the United States Government is permitted.     

Cross Cutting Issues in the Practice of Psychotherapy in Nigeria

The need to bridge the gap between western based psychotherapeutic intervention and African psychotherapeutic interventions is the main objective of this paper. In order to do this, cross cutting issues in psychotherapy in Nigeria were reviewed. This review covered socio cultural, economic conditions and other contemporary issues such as child maltreatment, HIV/AIDS, chronic illness, terrorism and the impact of western civilization on Nigerian culture and how it has produced a heterogeneous Nigerian society described as westernized, traditional and transitional types of Nigerians. Also salient peculiarities that must be taken into consideration in bridging the gap between western and African based psychotherapy were identified. Some of these salient peculiarities were adumbrated and they include frequent somatic complaints of psychological origin, beliefs in spirits including ancestral spirits, independent spirits and the supreme spirit God to whom duties are owed to keep the moral order. Given this situation the authors expressed uncertainty in the use of western diagnostic illness categories. Also an attempt was made to describe traditional methods of treatment such as the popular prayer houses and traditional healers. From lessons learnt based on these cross cutting issues the authors reported the development of Harmony Restoration Therapy and Meseron treatment frameworks as attempts at indigenizing western psychotherapeutic methods. From these they proposed the way forward as a cultural blend through using culture based psychotherapeutic framework. This they suggest can be applied in other societies.     

理论思维、工程思维、评价思维的界定与联系--谈对缺血性脑血管病临床实践若干问题的思考

理论思维是力求逻辑自恰、规避自相矛盾;工程思维是对逻辑地发现的属性进行非逻辑的复合;评价思维是虚体思维和筹划因素相分离所导致的思维方式.理论思维的成果必须通过工程思维付诸实践,评价思维是对实践的结果进行评价,评价的结果是对工程思维或/和理论思维的成果进行反思.对缺血性脑血管病实践中的理论思维、工程思维和评价思维的界定与相互联系进行探讨.