The Modern Aristotle: Michael Polanyi’s Search for Truth against Nihilism

Author(s):  
Ronald Hoinski ◽  
Ronald Polansky

David Hoinski and Ronald Polansky’s “The Modern Aristotle: Michael Polanyi’s Search for Truth against Nihilism” shows how the general tendencies of contemporary philosophy of science disclose a return to the Aristotelian emphasis on both the formation of dispositions to know and the role of the mind in theoretical science. Focusing on a comparison of Michael Polanyi and Aristotle, Hoinski and Polansky investigate to what degree Aristotelian thought retains its purchase on reality in the face of the changes wrought by modern science. Polanyi’s approach relies on several Aristotelian assumptions, including the naturalness of the human desire to know, the institutional and personal basis for the accumulation of knowledge, and the endorsement of realism against objectivism. Hoinski and Polansky emphasize the promise of Polanyi’s neo-Aristotelian framework, which argues that science is won through reflection on reality.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2840-2843
Author(s):  
Pramod Kumar ◽  
Pramod Kumar Prasad ◽  
Gupta S.S

The word “Purush" in its most social sense means man but in the aspect of Ayurveda, the term purush is repre- sented as atma or chetana dhatu (chetana-life and dhatu-element). The concept of the existence of atman (soul) is generally not accepted by modern science. According to Indian philosophy, the ultimate truth or absolute soul is one and he is Chetana (Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahm). Treatment of Panchmahabhut Sharir with presence of purush is known as Chikitsya Purush. Purush is supreme soul, pure conscious, unchanging, immortal neither birth nor death. It is essential for the creation of the universe and the living world. In the presence of purush gains knowledge through the mind. All the actions through karmendriyas, desire, pleasure, pain, life and death are per- formed. The purush (Kshetrajy) is lord of the house (Kshetra). The role of Purush in Srusti is laya & parlay which is the same as catalyst’s work in a reversible reaction. Keywords: Purush, Types, Karma Chikitsa, Chaturvinshatika, Rashi, Punarjanma


Author(s):  
Spas Spassov

Continuous controversies about how Aristotle's teleological biology relates to modern biological science address some widely debated questions in contemporary philosophy of science. Three main groups of objections made by contemporary science against Aristotle's biology can be identified: 1) Aristotle's biological teleology is too anthropomorphic; 2) the idea is tied too substance based; 3) Aristotle's final ends contradict the mechanistic spirit of modern science, which is looking for physical causes. There are two ways of dealing with these objections. The first consists in showing misinterpretations of Aristotle's thought that underlie these arguments. A second line of defense explores the idea that teleological concepts are not only incorporated and widely used in contemporary science, but that in fact biology does not have to renounce teleology in order to reconcile with the modern scientific mind. I suggests that a complete understanding of complex biological phenomena can only be achieved by combining different approaches to this issue.


Communicology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-52
Author(s):  
E. V. Koydan

The paper examines the historical connection of phonetics with general linguistics, and reveals why this area of linguistics did not develop neither consistently, nor simultaneously in the structure of philological sciences. Attention is paid to the modern media-text approach to such an area of phonetics as intonation; the latter, in turn, is viewed as part of communication theory. It is hypothesized that such an attitude to sound, to the phoneme, has already been considered among the Futurists, Dadaists, Lettrists, Budelyans and Oberiuts, who interpreted sounds as an unknowable phenomenon that is beyond the cognition of the mind. Here the place and the pragmatic role of modern science on current approaches to phonetics in communicology is determined, where intonation does not refer to either cognitive science or paralinguistics, but, at the same time, unites these two areas of practical speech production. It is hypothetically assumed that such approaches were realized by some representatives of trends and schools of the direction of modernism of the early twentieth century.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 51-58
Author(s):  
Marek Sikora

The article is a voice in the discussion on Wojciech Sady’s book Struktura rewolucji relatywistycznej i kwantowej w fizyce [The Structure of Relativistic and Quantum Revolution in Physics]. The author points out that the central idea of this book directly refers to the works of Thomas Kuhn, who emphasized the role of revolutions in the process of scientific development. Sady criticizes this position, claiming that the development of science is primarily determined by systematic research. The author also argues with Sady’s thesis that an important consequence of the relativistic and quantum revolution in physics is the fundamental questioning of the value of Kant’s philosophy. The text tries to show that Kantism is still present in contemporary philosophy of science.


2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1696) ◽  
pp. 20150166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Pyne

For most of human history, fire has been a pervasive presence in human life, and so also in human thought. This essay examines the ways in which fire has functioned intellectually in Western civilization as mythology, as religion, as natural philosophy and as modern science. The great phase change occurred with the development of industrial combustion; fire faded from quotidian life, which also removed it from the world of informing ideas. Beginning with the discovery of oxygen, fire as an organizing concept fragmented into various subdisciplines of natural science and forestry. The Anthropocene, however, may revive the intellectual role of fire as an informing idea or at least a narrative conceit. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.


Author(s):  
Andrzej Mądro

The mechanism of perceiving the world by mankind is still an unfathomable, yet highly discussed, problem of modern science in its various fields. If the issue is considered in the specific context of contemporary music and art – electroacoustic, multimedia, interactive – questions arise: how do the hearing and the mind react to the new synthesized sounds? What are the mechanisms and rules of multi-sensory perception? Are new perceptual skills developing in the face of new aesthetic situations? Does mankind in the age of the newmedia take another step on the long path of its “sensory evolution”?New media art often puts the senses to the proof; it is a game played with perception, with its limitations and capabilities. In turn, intensification of experience appears to the audience as liberation, escapism, but also as a search for new ways of knowing.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
M. Ashraf Adeel

This article is focused on some conditions in today’s world of globalized media, which are producing either an uncritical acquiescence or fright in Muslim societies as a result of the interaction between these societies and the contemporary Western powers that represent modernity and postmodernity on the global stage. The rise of fundamentalism, a tendency toward returning to the roots and stringently insisting upon some pure and literal interpretation of them, in almost all the religions of the world is a manifestation of this fright. The central concern of this article is to suggest that fundamentalism is neither the only nor the most reasonable response for Muslim societies in the face of contemporary modernity. Muslims need to adopt an independent and critical attitude toward modernity and reshape their societies in the light of the ethics of the Qur’an, keeping in view the historical link between Islam and science in as much as Islamic culture paved the way for emergence of modern science during European Renaissance. The necessity of a pluralistic or contextualized modernization of Muslim societies is discussed along with the need for the removal of cultural duplicity in the role of the West in relation to Muslim societies. All this leads to an overall proposal for modernization which is given towards the end.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Martin

Psychology grew out of philosophy, and the science of psychology is at the heart of how psychologists develop a body of knowledge. Despite the central role of science and philosophy in psychology, sport and exercise psychologists often ignore issues related to philosophy of science. This chapter discusses the scientific method upon which most quantitative research is based. It also discusses ontological and epistemological issues and the various philosophical assumptions that underpin research. In particular, two epistemological opposites are addressed, social constructionism and cognitivism, along with their strengths and weaknesses and resultant implications for past and future research. Because psychology is inherently the study of how and why people think and act, to completely disavow the mind as the primary cause of human agency is antithetical to the discipline and profession of psychology. Thus considerable attention is given to refuting critics who refute the primacy of the mind and its role in human behavior while still acknowledging that social, environmental, and culture factors play important roles in people’s lives.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-142
Author(s):  
Prashant Rahangdale

The efficacy of criminal justice administration can be adjudged by the ability of courts to punish the wrongdoer and impart justice to the victim. During the process of finding the guilt, courts rely upon the evidence adduced by the parties in the oral or documentary form. The oral evidence is submitted by the means of versions of witnesses. Witness act as a valuable source of information for the courts to bring out the guilt of the accused. The versions of witness facilitate the courts to arrive at a judicious decision. Therefore, the witness plays a prominent role in criminal justice administration. For this reason, Whittaker Chambers said, “In search of truth, he plays that sacred role of the sun, which eliminates the darkness of ignorance and illuminates the face of justice, encircled by devils of humanity and compassion.”[1] However, it is a bitter truth that the condition of witnesses is turning pathetic in the justice administration system day by day. The reports of inducement, threatening, harassment and intimidation of witnesses are coming every day on a rolling basis. All these incidences create fear in the mind of witnesses due to which witness hesitate to come forward to cooperate in the court process and often turn hostile. Moreover, a witness also falters due to lack of witness protection mechanism in our country. Law Commission of India in its various reports highlighted the problems faced by the witness during the course of the trial and recommended to incorporate a comprehensive policy on witness protection. Hon’ble Supreme Court of India through its judgement revamped the urge for witness protection regime in the Indian judicial system. In this research paper, the researcher seeks to highlight the problem faced by the witnesses in the criminal justice system and discuss the issue of witness protection in India.   [1] https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/tag/sit-and-cbi-probe/


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
M. Ashraf Adeel

This article is focused on some conditions in today’s world of globalized media, which are producing either an uncritical acquiescence or fright in Muslim societies as a result of the interaction between these societies and the contemporary Western powers that represent modernity and postmodernity on the global stage. The rise of fundamentalism, a tendency toward returning to the roots and stringently insisting upon some pure and literal interpretation of them, in almost all the religions of the world is a manifestation of this fright. The central concern of this article is to suggest that fundamentalism is neither the only nor the most reasonable response for Muslim societies in the face of contemporary modernity. Muslims need to adopt an independent and critical attitude toward modernity and reshape their societies in the light of the ethics of the Qur’an, keeping in view the historical link between Islam and science in as much as Islamic culture paved the way for emergence of modern science during European Renaissance. The necessity of a pluralistic or contextualized modernization of Muslim societies is discussed along with the need for the removal of cultural duplicity in the role of the West in relation to Muslim societies. All this leads to an overall proposal for modernization which is given towards the end.


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