Critical realism, science, and C. S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man

"4 This view contrasts with Thomas Kuhn's conclusion that science, like life on Earth, does not evolve toward an objective, true account of nature, but only away from something.5 N. T. Wright reasoned along similar lines to Haught, defining critical realism as a way of describing the proce...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Christian scholar's review 2017, Vol.46 (3), p.249
Main Author: Ippolito, Daniel F
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
American literature
Conversation
Lewis, C S (1898-1963)
Postmodernism
Realism
Relativism
Science
Scientists
Values
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:"4 This view contrasts with Thomas Kuhn's conclusion that science, like life on Earth, does not evolve toward an objective, true account of nature, but only away from something.5 N. T. Wright reasoned along similar lines to Haught, defining critical realism as a way of describing the process of "knowing" that acknowledges the reality of thing known, as something other than the knower (hence "realism"), whilst also fully acknowledging that the only access we have to this reality lies along the spiraling path of appropriate dialogue or conversation between the knower and thing known (hence "critical").6 The fact remains, however, that it requires an act of faith to believe that knowledge actually concerns realities independent of the mind of the knower. [...]it appears that the modern scientific enterprise rests on a three-legged stool of foundational assumptions, namely, trust that the universe is real and accessible to our senses, trust in the Principle of Parsimony (whether or not one couches it in aesthetic terms), and an a priori belief in the spatial and temporal invariance of natural laws.
ISSN:0017-2251