Re: Morally Neutral Knowledge (was: Fra ynâs âCopenhagenâ

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/2/02 10:32:04 PM, owen at sardonic201.net writes:

<< true, this may be the intention of science - a progressive and open system 
which invites constant revision, etc. - but there have been many 
philosophers who have challenged this, most notably thomas kuhn in _The 
Structure of Scientific Revolutions_.  what he asserts (and exquisitely so) 
is that science is by no means any objective pursuit, that is intrinsically 
subjective, and the claim for the amorality of the scientific method is 
nothing but a harmful myth.

just a few thoughts... >>

But if the world "out there" is morally neutral and unconcerned-
always filtered in some complex and partly pre-determined
partly learned way- by the world "in here," which, of course,
is made of the same "stuff" as what's out there, then what,
where, how is origin of morality?

Or, is it all relative, and should I just as soon ask what, where,
how is the origin of self-awareness?

Wasn't it the scientific approach that "de-animated" the
world of Aristotle, "neutered" the world, if you will, allowed
bodies to stay in motion not because the "stuff" wanted
to return to some hallowed center, but because the bodies
were completely without agency- i.e., neutral in every aspect?

"And most of these times, especially if he were hung over from 
the night before, or if a girl fellow junior diplomats had sworn 
was a sure thing had turned out to be so much more than sure 
that in the end it had not been worth even the price of drinks, 
he would shake his head like a drunk who is trying to stop seeing 
double, having become suddenly conscious of the weight of the 
briefcase and the insignificance of its contents and the stupidity 
of what he was doing out here, away from Rachel, following an 
obscure but clearly-marked path through a jungle of distrainments 
and affadavits and depositions; wondering why, in his first days 
with the Commission, he should have ever regarded himself as any 
kind of healer when he had always known that for a healer--a prophet 
actually, because if you cared about it at all you had to be both--
there is no question of balance sheets or legal complexity, and the 
minute you become involved with anything like that you are something
less; a doctor, or a fortune-teller." [Siegel, note to himself, page one
Mortality and Mercy in Vienna.]

When there's somethin' strange,
In the neighborhood-
Who ya gonna call?

regards