Posted on 12/12/2012 6:07:02 PM PST by neverdem
If Hollywood actors and DC politicians can pontificate on any and all subjects, so why not scientists?that an advanced degree in some area of natural science confers the ability to pontificate wisely on any and all subjects
They can - but you missed the word after pontificate in the quoted sentence.Anyone can pontificate on any subject - but not all of us can do so wisely.
Thats why this thread needs me. ;-)
Ping.
Its surprising the number of people who think their expertise in corporate law makes them expert in how to fix damaged homes. For some odd reason they dont assume the opposite. Nobody ever assumes the expert plumber is thereby qualified to perform surgery.
The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. - John W. Gardner
But not as much; now that I am here...
Advocates of scientism today claim the sole mantle of rationality, frequently equating science with reason itself.
"Philosophy is a necessity for a rational being. Philosophy is the foundation of science, the organizer of man's mind, the integrator of his knowledge, the programmer of his subconscious, the selector of his values."
"The present state of the world is not the proof of philosophy's impotence, but the proof of philosophy's power. It is philosophy that has brought us to this state - it is only philosophy that can lead us out."
"If, in the course of philosophical detection, you find yourself at times, stopped by the indignantly bewildered question: "How could anyone arrive at such nonsense?" - you will begin to understand it when you discover that evil philosophies are systems of rationalization."
Italics = article, quotes = Rand
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Ooh, that is a good one.
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