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Normism: The Philosophy of Norm Macdonald, a short book I wrote about the late great comedian, is available on Amazon.
Category Archives: Scientism
The Deniers
Esteemed philosopher Galen Strawson has a very good piece on the poverty of materialism as an explanation for consciousness (“The Consciousness Deniers”). He traces the lineage from early behaviorism to Dennett-style functionalism, leading to the absurdity that is reductive materialism: … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Political Theory, Scientism
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Gaps in the Grammar of the Universe
Jag Bhalla has an excellent, brief, Tractatus-outlined piece on the limits of scientism, the indeterminateness of language and its metaphysical inscrutability. (“Gaps in the Grammar of the Universe?“) Does our grasp of the grammar of the universe have gaps? Is … Continue reading
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On the Value of Not Knowing Everything
James McWilliams has a good article “On the Value of Not Knowing Everything“, centering on the Mysterian position which emanates from Thomas Nagel’s seminal bat argument, an argument I believe is incontestable. Despite a few misplaced snickers (e.g., describing anti-pomo … Continue reading
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The Neuroscience of Despair
In “The Neuroscience of Despair“, Michael Begun applies philosophical anti-scientism (i.e., the reductionism inherent in neurobiological ‘total explanations’ of conscious phenomena, that is, the materialist philosophical position known as scientism) to the issue of clinical depression: “Together with the popular … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Scientism
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The Cult of Richard Dawkins
Andrew Brown writes on disturbing elements of the ‘cult’ of Richard Dawkins. Dawkins’ “selfish gene” thesis, and its “memetics” corollary, is the good stuff. The fanaticism of Dawkins’ atheism is borderline repellant. Dawkins’ megalomania is jaw-droppingly repellant.
Roger Scruton: The Soul of the World
Roger Scruton, one of my favorite living philosophers, has a new book entitled The Soul of the World. In The Soul of the World, renowned philosopher Roger Scruton defends the experience of the sacred against today’s fashionable forms of atheism. … Continue reading
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God, Hayek & the Conceit of Reason
In Standpoint magazine, Jonathan Neumann has an excellent article on Hayek’s argument against scientism (“God, Hayek and the Conceit of Reason“).
Posted in Political Theory, Scientism
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Wieseltier vs. Scientism
In “Crimes Against Humanities“, Leon Wieseltier critiques the crude scientism Steven Pinker recently put on display in a much-talked about article: A few weeks ago this magazine published a small masterpiece of scientizing apologetics by Steven Pinker, called “Science Is … Continue reading
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Nagel on Mind and Cosmos
In the NYT, philosopher Thomas Nagel (one of my favorites) distills the argument in his controversial book Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False against scientism (that is, against the reductive materialism that … Continue reading
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McGinn vs. Changeux
Colin McGinn (king of the New Mysterians and my favorite contemporary philosopher) takes on another determinist, this time Jean-Pierre Changeux. I have no objection to neuroscience as such: it is a fascinating and reputable scientific subject. My objection concerns the … Continue reading
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