The Theory of Everything.

For all things philosophical.

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Post Reply
Nick_A
Posts: 6208
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:23 am

The Theory of Everything.

Post by Nick_A »

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/ ... -dead.html
Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, has declared that “Philosophy is dead”.

Speaking to Google’s Zeitgeist Conference in Hertfordshire, the author of 'A Brief History of Time' said that fundamental questions about the nature of the universe could not be resolved without hard data such as that currently being derived from the Large Hadron Collider and space research. “Most of us don't worry about these questions most of the time. But almost all of us must sometimes wonder: Why are we here? Where do we come from? Traditionally, these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead,” he said. “Philosophers have not kept up with modern developments in science. Particularly physics.”
Prof Hawking went on to claim that “Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.” He said new theories “lead us to a new and very different picture of the universe and our place in it”.
Will science ever verify a theory of everything making philosophy and the love of wisdom obsolete? Will this theory of everything prove the necessity for a Source of existence as describe by Plato and Plotinus or will it prove God as an imaginary ideal?
"To restore to science as a whole, for mathematics as well as psychology and sociology, the sense of its origin and veritable destiny as a bridge leading toward God---not by diminishing, but by increasing precision in demonstration, verification and supposition---that would indeed be a task worth accomplishing." Simone Weil


Was Simone right in her belief that when science is dedicated to the pursuit of truth as opposed to pragmatic concerns, its goal will include being open to establishing a connection with the source of science giving objective meaning to science?
seeds
Posts: 2127
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:31 pm

Re: The Theory of Everything.

Post by seeds »

Nick_A wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 am
The Telegraph wrote: Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, has declared that “Philosophy is dead”...

...“Philosophers have not kept up with modern developments in science. Particularly physics.”
I suggest that they have indeed kept up.

The problem is that hardcore materialists, such as Hawking, simply dismiss what the modern philosophers are offering.
The Telegraph wrote: Prof Hawking went on to claim that “Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.” He said new theories “lead us to a new and very different picture of the universe and our place in it”.
None of which confirms his naïve statement that “Philosophy is dead.”
Nick_A wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 am Will science ever verify a theory of everything making philosophy and the love of wisdom obsolete? Will this theory of everything prove the necessity for a Source of existence as describe by Plato and Plotinus or will it prove God as an imaginary ideal?
In my opinion, the only thing that science will ever prove...

(actually, to the astute metaphysician, it has already done so)

...is that the informationally-based, holographic-like fabric of reality (like pure mental imaging energy) is capable of being shaped into absolutely anything imaginable.

And as I stated in an alternate thread:
seeds wrote: Fri Oct 13, 2017 7:28 pm Humans, through the tools of science,...

(and assuming we will not destroy ourselves in the interim)

...will simply keep trudging along until we have figured out how to “indirectly” manipulate the fabric of matter in the same way that we can “directly” manipulate the fabric of our own minds.
_______
Archives
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2018 6:45 pm
Location: Houston, Texas.

Re: The Theory of Everything.

Post by Archives »

seeds wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:27 am
Nick_A wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 am
The Telegraph wrote: Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, has declared that “Philosophy is dead”...

...“Philosophers have not kept up with modern developments in science. Particularly physics.”
I suggest that they have indeed kept up.

The problem is that hardcore materialists, such as Hawking, simply dismiss what the modern philosophers are offering.
Absolutely agreed.

My firm belief is that almost all subjects and topics wherein philosophy and science cannot, in the least, compromise their beliefs and / or findings, are nothing greater than two very different ways of describing or explaining the exact same phenomena in nature. The fact that us, prideful, materialistic humans, sometimes, find it more palatable to believe, first and above all other senses, that things in which we can 'touch' or 'see', and those things which are of more immediate satisfaction or gratification of the 'truth' or the 'facts', to be the primary, superior to the conclusion and hypothesis of that which cannot always be touched or seen, is quite irrelevant to the question of whether or not philosophy is 'dead'.

This is where science can be seen as triumphant over philosophy. However, that's simply because we prefer the physical, material explanation(s) whenever attempt to find the 'truth' or the 'fact'. They're often easier to grasp and explain, in that they're less abstract; where they are abstract and intricately complex, the can be more easier broken down and simplified, piece-by-piece, such providing for an easier understanding through 'puzzle-piece' type thinking. And I find, you can't always break it down so easily and definitive when that subject is of philosophic context - yet, it is still done with great success, just as frequently as it is in the realm of science.
The Telegraph wrote: Prof Hawking went on to claim that “Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.” He said new theories “lead us to a new and very different picture of the universe and our place in it”.
None of which confirms his naïve statement that “Philosophy is dead.”
Couldn't agree more, again.
seeds wrote:In my opinion, the only thing that science will ever prove...

(actually, to the astute metaphysician, it has already done so)

...is that the informationally-based, holographic-like fabric of reality (like pure mental imaging energy) is capable of being shaped into absolutely anything imaginable.

And as I stated in an alternate thread:
seeds wrote: Fri Oct 13, 2017 7:28 pm Humans, through the tools of science,...

(and assuming we will not destroy ourselves in the interim)

...will simply keep trudging along until we have figured out how to “indirectly” manipulate the fabric of matter in the same way that we can “directly” manipulate the fabric of our own minds.
_______
And, if interpreted correctly, I find that this your comments here merit my belief that science and philosophy, both, are asking all the same questions, looking for all the same answers to those questions, yet, arriving to at their conclusions with different explanations and / or answers, which are, in and of themselves, actually the same thing being defined differently from one another.
seeds
Posts: 2127
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 9:31 pm

Re: The Theory of Everything.

Post by seeds »

Archives wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:10 pm ...The fact that us, prideful, materialistic humans, sometimes, find it more palatable to believe, first and above all other senses, that things in which we can 'touch' or 'see', and those things which are of more immediate satisfaction or gratification of the 'truth' or the 'facts', to be the primary, superior to the conclusion and hypothesis of that which cannot always be touched or seen, is quite irrelevant to the question of whether or not philosophy is 'dead'.
Hi Archives (and welcome to the forum :)).

Yes.

And Hawking’s declaration that “philosophy is dead,” clearly demonstrates how extreme intelligence in one area is not necessarily applicable to other areas.

Whatever the case may be, due to his recent passing, Hawking has either entered into a state of oblivion and eternal darkness...

...or...

...has awakened into the vivid awareness that his precious physics did not hold all of the answers to the great mystery of reality.

Either way, I am certain he is glad to have been released from that horrible “body-sized” prison of ALS.
_______
Post Reply