tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14247942.post8827687697627006266..comments2023-08-10T05:32:21.163-04:00Comments on An Examined Life: Facile InferencesVitae Scrutatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12808120163472036743noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14247942.post-32134472472927324172010-10-29T13:54:17.704-04:002010-10-29T13:54:17.704-04:00Hi Dr. Carson,
I just found your blog today and e...Hi Dr. Carson,<br /><br />I just found your blog today and enjoyed reading your posts.<br /><br />I look forward to future posts.<br /><br />BTW- GO HEELS!<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Ken Burgess<br />Florence, SCUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14953484104928372916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14247942.post-20191656430106577032010-08-03T04:58:51.554-04:002010-08-03T04:58:51.554-04:00Thank-you Scott, both for returning to the bloggin...Thank-you Scott, both for returning to the blogging world and for this delightful dissection of the arguments which are unfortunately so common in the fantasy world of science vs religion.Robert Sheehanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00466358101255792250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14247942.post-72408064379010161872010-08-02T23:09:22.529-04:002010-08-02T23:09:22.529-04:00Scott, I suspect that the prognosis is that it wil...Scott, I suspect that the prognosis is that it will get worse before it gets better. The schools are in the grip of those who decide what constitutes "science", and at the moment that group is not committed to thoughtful critique of anything bearing on questions of the "received wisdom". <br /><br />Used to be, back a long, long time ago, a person who had training in the practical professions (a blacksmith, a joiner, a shipbuilder, even an architect), knew that their education was a limited, incomplete education. They looked up to those whose education was devoted to the exploration of and understanding of the first principles, the root truths: a <i> liberal </i> education. That is, the education suited for a free man, an education suited to man as man, not as breadwinner, nor as an advanced programmable machine. An education that did not neglect the sciences, but did not focus solely on those; did not neglect history and the arts, but did not leave those to founder without deeper roots; did not neglect philosophy and theology, but grounded these in relation to other fields of knowledge. Such an education was admittedly not for everyone - it requires years of leisure, and an aptitude for quiet and patient work. Those who had to work in the manual fields for a living simply could not afford it. But they respected those who did complete such an education as having a right to speak to the larger questions, the difficult things of life, in a way that their own limited education did not suit them. <br /><br />What is the situation now? Most universities require at most one course in philosophy for technical degrees, (one steeped in skepticism at that) and then think that they are qualified to have an opinion on deeply difficult philosophical matters. Why? Because they have been mis-taught that there is no definite truth in philosophy. So chemists, marine biologists, and computer engineers feel free to speak to questions like whether God can be known from the world and from natural things. And yet if a non-chemist or non-physicist were to spout opinions about the technical details of nuclear theory, they would laugh themselves silly at such pretensions.Tonynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14247942.post-25205930069440810812010-08-02T23:08:45.776-04:002010-08-02T23:08:45.776-04:00Scott, I suspect that the prognosis is that it wil...Scott, I suspect that the prognosis is that it will get worse before it gets better. The schools are in the grip of those who decide what constitutes "science", and at the moment that group is not committed to thoughtful critique of anything bearing on questions of the "received wisdom". <br /><br />Used to be, back a long, long time ago, a person who had training in the practical professions (a blacksmith, a joiner, a shipbuilder, even an architect), knew that their education was a limited, incomplete education. They looked up to those whose education was devoted to the exploration of and understanding of the first principles, the root truths: a <i> liberal </i> education. That is, the education suited for a free man, an education suited to man as man, not as breadwinner, nor as an advanced programmable machine. An education that did not neglect the sciences, but did not focus solely on those; did not neglect history and the arts, but did not leave those to founder without deeper roots; did not neglect philosophy and theology, but grounded these in relation to other fields of knowledge. Such an education was admittedly not for everyone - it requires years of leisure, and an aptitude for quiet and patient work. Those who had to work in the manual fields for a living simply could not afford it. But they respected those who did complete such an education as having a right to speak to the larger questions, the difficult things of life, in a way that their own limited education did not suit them. <br /><br />What is the situation now? Most universities require at most one course in philosophy for technical degrees, (one steeped in skepticism at that) and then think that they are qualified to have an opinion on deeply difficult philosophical matters. Why? Because they have been mis-taught that there is no definite truth in philosophy. So chemists, marine biologists, and computer engineers feel free to speak to questions like whether God can be known from the world and from natural things. And yet if a non-chemist or non-physicist were to spout opinions about the technical details of nuclear theory, they would laugh themselves silly at such pretensions. <br /><br />It is extremely difficult to forecast a method by which the universities could be brought in line with a more wholesome approach toward teaching and toward what education is for man. It may be that they have to essentially crumble into ruin and a new start be made - which kind of implies a great dearth of use or need for advanced technical studies.Tonynoreply@blogger.com