The return of radical empiricism

by Massimo Pigliucci “All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.” So wrote Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason, one of the most influential philosophy books of all time. Kant is also the philosopher credited for finally overcoming the …

Science is not a frog

by Steven Paul Leiva I am the author of a science fiction novel, Traveling in Space, and there is a bit of an irony in that. When I was in high school and college I was lucky to achieve even a D in science courses, and to this day any math beyond the four basics …

Defending scientism: mathematics is a part of science

[Editor’s Note: This essay is part of Scientia Salon’s special “scientism week” and could profitably be read alongside other entries on the same topic on this site, such as this one by John Shook and this one by yours truly. My take on the issue is very different from that of the authors who contributed to …

Scientism: ‘Yippee’ or ‘Boo-sucks’? — Part II

[Editor’s Note: This essay is part of Scientia Salon’s special “scientism week” and could profitably be read alongside other entries on the same topic on this site, such as this one by John Shook and this one by yours truly. My take on the issue is very different from that of the authors who contributed to …

Scientism: ‘Yippee’ or ‘Boo-sucks’? — Part I

[Editor’s Note: This essay is part of Scientia Salon’s special “scientism week” and could profitably be read alongside other entries on the same topic on this site, such as this one by John Shook and this one by yours truly. My take on the issue is very different from that of the authors who contributed to …

On the science and ethics of Ebola treatments

by Joanna Monti-Masel We have recently seen much ethical hand-wringing around use of the two new and experimental treatments for Ebola, ZMapp and TKM-Ebola. Unfortunately, people are worried about the wrong things. The first two patients to be treated were Americans. Prior to this came the old (and historically justified) fear of testing potentially dangerous …

Graham Priest on Buddhism and logic

by Massimo Pigliucci Graham Priest is a colleague of mine at City University of New York’s Graduate Center, a world renowned expert in logic, a Buddhist connoisseur, and an all-around nice guy [1]. So I always pay attention to what he says or writes. Recently he published a piece in Aeon magazine [2] entitled “Beyond …

On the philosophy of language — Part II

by Sal Scilicet Dictionaries clearly do not define reality and most certainly do not reveal how words are used on the street. We do not live within the neat and orderly context of a dictionary. Life is infinitely more complicated and messy. We all use and misuse words at random as the irrational inclination of the …

On the philosophy of language — Part I

by Sal Scilicet It’s never a very good idea, I know, when witnessing a regular saloon brawl, or when two large dogs, all bristle, slobber and grin, are noisily asserting unspecified territorial prerogatives, to come injudiciously betwixt, among and between the contenders in order to call a truce and tend to the wounded. Nevertheless, I would …

p-zombies are inconceivable. With notes on the idea of metaphysical possibility.

by Massimo Pigliucci Philosophy of mind and the nature of consciousness are fascinating topics, which recur both here at Scientia Salon [1] and at my former writing outlet, Rationally Speaking [2]. And of course we can hardly talk about consciousness for long before running into one of the most famous (and, in my mind, pernicious) …