Art or Science?
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Art or Science?
Is the mind too variable for all things to be considered, or are we fundamentally driven by basic needs and desires which can be simply calculated?
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Re: Art or Science?
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Re: Art or Science?
The scientific method, for example, is a philosophy. It's just not normally thought of in that way.
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Re: Art or Science?
It is not science or an art but can involve facets of both. Though really, so do science and art.
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Re: Art or Science?
I don't understand why the dichotomy art-science. Shouldn't it be science-pseudoscience? Or science-philosophy? One should make the difference between methods and the object of study. Usually each method corresponds to its object of study, so you don't use a chemistry lab to study the ecological pressures faced by the monarch butterflies.StayCurious wrote: ↑February 20th, 2018, 5:34 pm Should philosophy be considered an art or a science? I was recently listening to an Alan Watts lecture were he defined science simply as "accurate description" which requires rigorous precision and calculable elimination of variables, which is not possible in philosophy the way it is in Chemistry and Mathematics, using contamination-proof rooms and limited variables.
Is the mind too variable for all things to be considered, or are we fundamentally driven by basic needs and desires which can be simply calculated?
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
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Re: Art or Science?
- Sy Borg
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Re: Art or Science?
In many ways, yes, which is perhaps why it is so powerful. Asimov, for instance, was a deep thinker with a terrific philosophical eye and vision. It's been shown time and again that speculative fiction is an essential ingredient for progress. Whether an idea occurs in head of a scientist, philosopher or artist is to some extent moot, as long as it finds its way through one way or another to those who can use it.
Most people think about life as would a child think about chess - without considering any possible future moves. Most times what is referred to as "practical" or "sensible" usually involves mindless incident handling that fails to consider underlying problems, and also ignores the "non useful" small aspects of life that can bring, not only fascination, but useful transferable knowledge.
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Re: Art or Science?
All search for knowledge and its expression lies under the umbrella of philosophy.. everything. Science and Art however have had close relationships since their conception.StayCurious wrote: ↑February 20th, 2018, 5:34 pm Should philosophy be considered an art or a science? I was recently listening to an Alan Watts lecture were he defined science simply as "accurate description" which requires rigorous precision and calculable elimination of variables, which is not possible in philosophy the way it is in Chemistry and Mathematics, using contamination-proof rooms and limited variables.
Is the mind too variable for all things to be considered, or are we fundamentally driven by basic needs and desires which can be simply calculated?
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Re: Art or Science?
Philosophers make analytical sense of, see a coherent pattern in, the human-centered world as they see it. The analysis is as much a product of time and place and culture as the philosopher who makes it - but he doesn't seem to know that; all philosophers seem to imagine themselves universal and eternal. In attempting to write in absolute, comprehensive terms, they make their work inaccessible to the majority of potential readers.Greta wrote: ↑February 25th, 2018, 10:18 pm [Speculative fiction]
In many ways, yes, which is perhaps why it is so powerful. Asimov, for instance, was a deep thinker with a terrific philosophical eye and vision. It's been shown time and again that speculative fiction is an essential ingredient for progress. Whether an idea occurs in head of a scientist, philosopher or artist is to some extent moot, as long as it finds its way through one way or another to those who can use it.
SF writers understand that they and their ideas are conditional, and couch those in terms that most of their contemporaries can not only understand, but enjoy and internalize. They distill the essence of philosophical thought and make it potable.
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Re: Art or Science?
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Re: Art or Science?
- Sy Borg
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Re: Art or Science?
Yes, the philosophers of antiquity tended to espouse philosophies than could reasonably be described as "antique". Like many antiques, the ideas could be beautiful in form but less functional than what came after.Alias wrote: ↑February 26th, 2018, 2:51 pmPhilosophers make analytical sense of, see a coherent pattern in, the human-centered world as they see it. The analysis is as much a product of time and place and culture as the philosopher who makes it - but he doesn't seem to know that; all philosophers seem to imagine themselves universal and eternal. In attempting to write in absolute, comprehensive terms, they make their work inaccessible to the majority of potential readers.Greta wrote: ↑February 25th, 2018, 10:18 pm[Speculative fiction]
In many ways, yes, which is perhaps why it is so powerful. Asimov, for instance, was a deep thinker with a terrific philosophical eye and vision. It's been shown time and again that speculative fiction is an essential ingredient for progress. Whether an idea occurs in head of a scientist, philosopher or artist is to some extent moot, as long as it finds its way through one way or another to those who can use it.
SF writers understand that they and their ideas are conditional, and couch those in terms that most of their contemporaries can not only understand, but enjoy and internalize. They distill the essence of philosophical thought and make it potable.
Authors are more free than philosophers who are more free than scientists. In industry and society these fields are separated. However, there is no logical reason for a thinker to be restricted to any of these fields, or even categorise their thoughts in that way. If not too conditioned, we will think about the nature of reality, or parts of it, and simply use the available tools. I'm not going to best understand art with math or make sense of a data set with philosophy.
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Re: Art or Science?
Philosophy is more art than science. It's definitely not science, because it doesn't deal with theories, only reasonable ideas. It's not exact and precise enough to be science.StayCurious wrote: ↑February 20th, 2018, 5:34 pm Should philosophy be considered an art or a science? I was recently listening to an Alan Watts lecture were he defined science simply as "accurate description" which requires rigorous precision and calculable elimination of variables, which is not possible in philosophy the way it is in Chemistry and Mathematics, using contamination-proof rooms and limited variables.
Is the mind too variable for all things to be considered, or are we fundamentally driven by basic needs and desires which can be simply calculated?
However, it's not properly art either. Art is doing, not thinking...
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Re: Art or Science?
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Re: Art or Science?
2024 Philosophy Books of the Month
2023 Philosophy Books of the Month
Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023