Category Archives: Philosophy

General Science, Philosophy, Political Commentary, Science And Society

Show Me The Science

8 Comments

Jim Manzi reviews Expelled. He’s not impressed.

And John Derbyshire is appropriately dismayed by Jews like David Klinghoffer and Ben Stein latching on to this anti-science schtick:

One of the best reasons to be a philosemite in our time is sheer gratitude at the disproportionate contribution Jews have made to the advance of Western civilization, and to our understanding of the world, this past two hundred years. The U.S.A. dominated the 20th century in culture and technology, to the great benefit of all mankind, in part because of the work done in math and science by the great tranche of pre-WW2 immigrant Jews from Europe.

Now you have joined up with people who want to trash the scientific enterprise and heap insults on one of the greatest names in intellectual history. For reasons unfathomable to me, you and Ben Stein want to sneer and scoff at our understandings, hard-won over centuries of arduous intellectual effort. Don’t the two of you know, don’t Jews of all people know, where this anti-intellectual agitation, this pandering to a superstitious mob, will lead at last? If you truly don’t, I refer you to the fate of Hypatia, which you can read about in my last book (Chapter 3), or in Gibbon (Chapter XLVII). Your new pals at the Discovery Institute no doubt think Hypatia got what she deserved.

Civilization is a thin veneer, David. Reason and science are bulwarks against the dark.

The mistake that these people make is to equate science with atheism. It is true that, as science advances, and more scientific explanations are put forth, much of the need for God, at least insofar as an explanation for natural phenomena, is removed. But then, that’s the nature of natural phenomena–if they require the supernatural, they are by definition not natural.

But it doesn’t follow that a belief in science in general, or evolution in particular, requires atheism. Many (including Manzi in the link above) have pointed out numerous examples, going back to Aquinas, of the compatibility of rationality and reason, and theism. Stein and Klinghoffer would return us to the dark ages, even if they don’t realize it.

Philosophy, Political Commentary, Popular Culture

The Future Is Leon’s Oyster

Well, if not his oyster, at least his dippy dot:

“It seems the legends of 21st-century man’s crude ice cream-eating habits are all true,” Wolcott said. “I see the way you consume these dripping concoctions with protruding tongues, the way the dark cream dribbles down your chins, the way your workers must dig tirelessly with spherical metal ‘scooping’ devices to even obtain this product.”

“Barbarians!” Wolcott added. “Dippin’ Dots can be poured effortlessly into cups. They do not melt or make a mess, and plus they are very fun to eat.”

Now, it would seem to me that this is a man after Leon Kass’ heart. Not to mention, ironically, that it gives this enemy of longevity a reason to live, and see such a marvelous future, in which he will no longer have to suffer the indignity of seeing people licking cones in the street, like so many cats at bath.

Philosophy, Political Commentary, Popular Culture

The Future Is Leon’s Oyster

Well, if not his oyster, at least his dippy dot:

“It seems the legends of 21st-century man’s crude ice cream-eating habits are all true,” Wolcott said. “I see the way you consume these dripping concoctions with protruding tongues, the way the dark cream dribbles down your chins, the way your workers must dig tirelessly with spherical metal ‘scooping’ devices to even obtain this product.”

“Barbarians!” Wolcott added. “Dippin’ Dots can be poured effortlessly into cups. They do not melt or make a mess, and plus they are very fun to eat.”

Now, it would seem to me that this is a man after Leon Kass’ heart. Not to mention, ironically, that it gives this enemy of longevity a reason to live, and see such a marvelous future, in which he will no longer have to suffer the indignity of seeing people licking cones in the street, like so many cats at bath.

Philosophy, Political Commentary, Popular Culture

The Future Is Leon’s Oyster

Well, if not his oyster, at least his dippy dot:

“It seems the legends of 21st-century man’s crude ice cream-eating habits are all true,” Wolcott said. “I see the way you consume these dripping concoctions with protruding tongues, the way the dark cream dribbles down your chins, the way your workers must dig tirelessly with spherical metal ‘scooping’ devices to even obtain this product.”

“Barbarians!” Wolcott added. “Dippin’ Dots can be poured effortlessly into cups. They do not melt or make a mess, and plus they are very fun to eat.”

Now, it would seem to me that this is a man after Leon Kass’ heart. Not to mention, ironically, that it gives this enemy of longevity a reason to live, and see such a marvelous future, in which he will no longer have to suffer the indignity of seeing people licking cones in the street, like so many cats at bath.