Science and Certainty

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
John TO Kirk
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Biological Reality ◽  
Special Part ◽  
Philosophical Background ◽  
The Many

How did the cosmos, and our own special part of it, come to be? How did life emerge and how did we arise within it? What can we say about the essential nature of the physical world? What can be said about the physical basis of consciousness? What can science tell or not tell us about the nature and origin of physical and biological reality? Science and Certainty clears away the many misunderstandings surrounding these questions. The book addresses why certain areas of science cause concern to many people today – in particular, those which seem to have implications for the meaning of human existence, and for our significance on this planet and in the universe as a whole. It also examines the tension that can exist between scientific and religious belief systems. Science and Certainty offers an account of what science does, in fact, ask us to believe about the most fundamental aspects of reality and, therefore, the implications of accepting the scientific world view. The author also includes a historical and philosophical background to a number of environmental issues and argues that it is only through science that we can hope to solve these problems. This book will appeal to popular science readers, those with an interest in the environment and the implications of science for the meaning of human existence, as well as students of environmental studies, philosophy, ethics and theology.

Questioning the Presence of the Past

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-91
Author(s):  
Thomas Kriza
Keyword(s):  
Michel Foucault ◽  
World View ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Spiritual Exercises ◽  
Existential Meaning ◽  
The Past ◽  
Truth Claim ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Pierre Hadot

Abstract This paper questions the contemporary turn towards horizons of existential meaning going back to antiquity especially in the shape of a turn to religion by pointing to crucial differences between antique conceptions of thought and their modern revivals. Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault interpret antique thought as spiritual exercises to perfect human existence, exposing an inherent existential relevance and connection to a peculiar conception of truth. I argue that because of these ties to a truth claim deeply alien to the modern scientific world-view, antique horizons of existential meaning cannot be revived within modern frames of thought. Their contemporary presence is more likely the expression of the deeply ambivalent modern relationship to premodern horizons of existential meaning, rather than a genuine revival.

A Scientific World-View of Nature and Environmental Problem with a Special Concentration on Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s Understanding of Environmental Sustainability (Perspektif Sains terhadap Krisis Alam dan Persekitaran: Pemikiran Seyyed Hossein Nasr tentan)

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-328
Author(s):  
Md. Abu Sayem
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
World View ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
World Views ◽  
Renaissance Humanism ◽  
Spiritual World ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
European Renaissance

The present paper attempts to expose how the scientific world-view of nature contributes to the present environmental crisis. Alongside this, it relates European Renaissance, humanism, secularism, the scientific and industrial revolutions, modern philosophy, scientism, technology-based modern life, consumerism-based modern society, etc. with current environmental problems. By focusing on Nasr’s traditional understanding of nature, the paper explores how materialistic and mechanistic world-views are deeply connected with the present ecological crisis. It also offers a critical analysis of Nasr’s spiritual and religious world-view of nature and examines its relevance. In doing so, it aims to highlight some demerits of the present world-view, and to call to reform current perceptions of nature by revitalizing traditional wisdom in order to protect the environment from further degradation. Thus, the paper is scholarly addition to the ongoing discourse on the issue of religions and the environment. Keywords: Eco-theology, Environmental Degradation, Materialistic and Mechanistic Views of Nature, Scientism, Spiritual Crisis of Modern humans, Religious and Spiritual World-Views.   Abstrak Kertas kajian ini menerangkan bagaimana pandangan saintifik telah menyumbang kepada krisis alam sekitar semasa. Disamping itu, kertas ini akan menhubungkaitkan Gerakan Revolusi Humanisma di Eropah, sekularisme, revolusi  sains dan perindustrian, falsafah moden, saintisme, kehidupan moden yang berasaskan teknologi, masyarakat moden yang berasaskan consumerisme, etc. dengan krisis alam sekitar yang berlaku dewasa ini.  Dengan memahami pandangan Nasr terhadap alam sekitar, kertas ini akan merungkai bagaimana pandangan materialistik (kebendaan) dan mekanistik mempengaruhi krisis ekologi masa kini. Ia juga akan menganalisa pandangan spiritual dan agama Nasr terhadap alam sekitar secara kritikal dan akan menilai sejauh mana kesesuaiannya. Dengan sedemikian dapat menyedarkan manusia tentang kecacatan pandangan semasa, yang kemudiannya akan membawa kepada pembaharuan persepsi mereka terhadap alam sekitar dengan cara menghidupkan semula nilai-nilai tradisional demi mengelakkan kemerosotan alam sekitar. Kertas ini akan memuatkan idea-idea para cendiakawan dalam membincangkan isu  berkaitan agama dan alam sekitar. Kata Kunci: Eko-Teologi, Kemerosotan Alam Sekitar, Pandangan Materialistik dan Makanistik terhadap Alam, Saintisme, Krisis Spiritual Manusia Moden, Perspektif Spiritual dan Agama.

Toward An Islamic Alternative In Thought and Knowledge

1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Taha Jabir Al Alwani
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
World View ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Selective Approach ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Eclectic Approach ◽  
Basic Approaches ◽  
The Many

IntroductionCurrent developments and the many acute problems facing the MuslimUmmah, especially at the intellectual level, present a serious challenge toIslam. This is why an attempt to outline an intellectual Islamic alternativein thought and knowledge has never been so urgent and imperative. Thiwill, insha 'Allah, help in formulating a clear and coordinated policy withregard to cultural transformation based on firm principles and sound strategy.It is also hoped that this policy will lead to scientific findings.By way of introduction, I will give a brief description of the state ofknowledge and thought. and of the educational and cultural systems in thecontemporary Arab and Muslim world.The Present State of ThoughtWhen examining the present state of thought among the Muslim peoples.three basic approaches can be identified:• The first can be described as the traditionalist approach which,by and large, considers the "traditional'' thought of the Ummahto be self-sufficient and capable of being presented asit is or with very little alteration. This approach suggeststhat the Ummah's contemporary intellectual life can be formedand organized and that the structure of its civilization canbe built on this basis. This approach i often described asthe approach of authenticity.• The second approach considers contemporary Western thoughtand its world-view-its concepts of existence, of life and ofman-to be universal, without it a modern culture and civilizationcannot be built. This tendency maintains that Westernthought must be adopted in toto, and any consequent negativeaspects are the price that must be paid if a modern cultureand civilization are to be established. This view is oftendescribed as mcdemistic.• The third trend, or the eclectic approach, advocates yetanother view. It contends that one must select from traditionalthought what is most sound, and from "modern" contemporarythought that which one considers and proves tobe correct, and weld the two to form an intellectual structurethat will provide a guaranteed basis for achieving what isrequired.However, the traditional approach, in the manner it has been presentedand applied, did not help to prevent the Ummah from falling into Lhe stateof decline and failure from which it is still suffering. Likewise, Western thought,as it also is presented and applied, cannot protect the Ummah from its inherentadverse, harmful and even disastrous effects. The advocates of theeclectic selective approach have not yet presented the details of this proposedblend, let alone tried to put it into effect. All this is conducive to the widerangingquestion: Is the Umrnah going through a serious intellectual crisis;and . if so, what is the way out of it? ...

Surfing the Quantum World

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank S. Levin
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Quantum Spin ◽  
Exclusion Principle ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One

Surfing the Quantum World bridges the gap between in-depth textbooks and typical popular science books on quantum ideas and phenomena. Among its significant features is the description of a host of mind-bending phenomena, such as a quantum object being in two places at once or a certain minus sign being the most consequential in the universe. Much of its first part is historical, starting with the ancient Greeks and their concepts of light, and ending with the creation of quantum mechanics. The second part begins by applying quantum mechanics and its probability nature to a pedagogical system, the one-dimensional box, an analog of which is a musical-instrument string. This is followed by a gentle introduction to the fundamental principles of quantum theory, whose core concepts and symbolic representations are the foundation for most of the subsequent chapters. For instance, it is shown how quantum theory explains the properties of the hydrogen atom and, via quantum spin and Pauli’s Exclusion Principle, how it accounts for the structure of the periodic table. White dwarf and neutron stars are seen to be gigantic quantum objects, while the maximum height of mountains is shown to have a quantum basis. Among the many other topics considered are a variety of interference phenomena, those that display the wave properties of particles like electrons and photons, and even of large molecules. The book concludes with a wide-ranging discussion of interpretational and philosophic issues, introduced in Chapters 14 by entanglement and 15 by Schrödinger’s cat.

Serving Native American Children and Families

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Robinson-Zañartu
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
World View ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
American People ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Traditional Language ◽  
American Children

As a group, Native American people are perhaps the least understood and most underserved populations in schools. Native American is a collective term, representing a large variety of cultures, language groups, customs, traditions, levels of acculturation, and levels of traditional language use. In the context of this variation, I raise and discuss a number of common patterns in their traditions and histories: world view and belief systems, acculturation stress, school-home discontinuity, learning styles, and communication patterns, which are useful reference points from which to develop more culturally compatible evaluation approaches. The ecosystems and dynamic/mediational approaches are suggested as promising.

scholarly journals Discussion-provocation as a method of improving the educational process

2020 ◽  
Vol 210 ◽  
pp. 18030
Author(s):  
Olga Nikolenko ◽  
Larisa Babakova ◽  
Boris Morenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
World View ◽  
Standard Form ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Authentic Texts ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
Initial Base

The article describes the methodology of conducting training sessions in the discussion-provocation form as one of the methods of improving speech and thinking skills while teaching Russian as a foreign language in the classroom at an advanced training level and proves its effectiveness in mastering communication skills. It is shown that conducting training sessions in the discussion-provocation form helps to develop speech production skills among foreign students, to unleash creativity and logical thinking, making them to pass and process the information of the suggested basic text through “I-position” the prism. It enriches foreign students with elements of personally marked evaluation, thereby realizing the cognitive, communicative and educational tasks of the learning process. The advantages of authentic texts as an initial base for the speech skills development are described, as far as they reflect the real needs and emotional students’ mood through their approach to the surrounding reality and the interests of a particular individual, orient his thoughts to a given attitude. Discussion-provocation, being a non-standard form of classes helps to form an abstract and scientific world view among foreign students.

Fate of the Flesh

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Juan Gil
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
World View ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
The Social

In the seventeenth century, the hope for resurrection starts to be undermined by an emerging empirical scientific world view and a rising Cartesian dualist ontology that translates resurrection into more dualist terms. But poets pick up the embattled idea of resurrection of the body and bend it from a future apocalypse into the here and now so that they imagine the body as it exists now to be already infused with the strange, vibrant materiality of the “resurrection body.” This “resurrection body” is imagined as the precondition for the social identities and forms of agency of the social person, and yet the “resurrection body” also remains deeply other to all such identities and forms of agency, an alien within the self that both enables and undercuts life as a social person. Positing a “resurrection body” within the historical person leads seventeenth-century poets to use their poetry to develop an awareness of the unsettling materiality within the heart of the self and allows them to reimagine agency, selfhood, and the natural world in this light. In developing a poetics that seeks a deranging materialism within the self, these poets anticipate twentieth-century “avant-garde” poetics. They do not frame their poems as simple representation nor as beautiful objects but as a form of social praxis that creates new communities of readers and writers that are assembled by a new experience of self-as-body mediated by poetry.

The Physical Cosmos: Aristotelian Dialectics

2018 ◽  
pp. 76-109
Author(s):  
Anthony Cordingley
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Trinity College Dublin ◽  
Creative Transformation ◽  
Cosmic Order ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores the impact of the dialectics of the Ancient world after Plato upon Beckett’s French novels and the peculiar set of relations between characters and their physical environment in How It Is. It accounts for the presence of Aristotelian ideas of cosmic order, syllogism, space and time. Beckett’s study of formal logic as a student at Trinity College, Dublin and his private study of philosophy in 1932 is examined in this light; particularly his “Philosophy Notes,” along with further sources for his knowledge. The Aristotelian world view of his “I” is shown to be confronted with a set of relations resembling those of the Ancient Greek Stoics. The materiality of spatio-temporal relations in How It Is and the metaphysical coordinates between the “I”, its cosmos and any transcendent other are interrogated. The dialectic between Aristotelian and Stoic physics and metaphysics in How It Is emerges as a conceptual framework for exploring many of the novel’s contradictions, as well as the many confusions and digressions of its narrator/narrated. Beckett’s creative transformation of this ancient dialectic is shown, furthermore, to lead him to formal innovations, such as the novel’s continuous present tense and its complex narrative structure.

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