• tags :: philosophy of science

Logical positivismclaims that all we can say definitively about the world is through science

Although there is a very obvious utility to science, the best science could do is explain the objective. Science works very hard to remove the subjective from it. But science does not speak to the subjective and has much difficulty doing so in the areas where it tries, such as in psychology

But I think there is more to life than just what science can say. Science cannot speak to the sublime, or to thrill or love, or the parts of life that make life exciting. Science does not have much to say about a good movie.

Similarly, the institution of sciencehas a problem with ideology science is often used not for the pure pursuit of truth but for capitalistic ends. When science is synonymous with "the truth", science can come to mean anything that fits an agenda. A subtle example is the so-called "biology as ideology", that different races of people are somehow inherently different based on their biological race alone. Following this to its logical conclusion can end up legitimizing racist projects, as is what happened with eugenicsin the [[file:20210330201641-united_states.org][United States]] and Nazi Germany A more pernicious example is using science to justify the continued use of fossil fuels in the face of ever-devastating [[file:20210427204037-climate_change.org][climate change]].