Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science | Hacker News Reader

Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science

thenewatlantis.com

24 pointsdiaphanous10 comments

We sweep the ancients aside at our peril.

I've been reading the works of Plato during part of my commute for the past few months. And for the past six months or so I've been one of several peer reviewers for a certain philosophy-of-science paper which we only recently finally all agreed to accept (after many rounds of revisions). Oh, if only we had waited--just this week, I was reading one of Plato's dialogues and, bang! The big problem which our reviewee was working on was addressed right there on the pages, from the lips of Socrates, over 2000 years ago.

What dialogue?

I'd rather not say just on the slim chance of compromising confidentiality. So instead here are my favorite dialogues so far (of the ones I've read): Theaetetus, Philebus. I found Phaedrus and Symposium a little overrated. Haven't gotten to Republic yet. :)

I apologize, as I would not have asked if I knew there was such an issue. Thank you for your answer.

Another good book on Aristotle's metaphysics and the modern world is Edward Feser's Aristotle’s Revenge: The Metaphysical Foundations of Physical and Biological Science:

> Actuality and potentiality, substantial form and prime matter, efficient causality and teleology are among the fundamental concepts of Aristotelian philosophy of nature. Aristotle’s Revenge argues that these concepts are not only compatible with modern science, but are implicitly presupposed by modern science. Among the many topics covered are the metaphysical presuppositions of scientific method; the status of scientific realism; the metaphysics of space and time; the metaphysics of quantum mechanics; reductionism in chemistry and biology; the metaphysics of evolution; and neuroscientific reductionism. The book interacts heavily with the literature on these issues in contemporary analytic metaphysics and philosophy of science, so as to bring contemporary philosophy and science into dialogue with the Aristotelian tradition.

* https://www.editiones-scholasticae.de/index.php?page=shop.pr...

* https://www.amazon.com/Aristotles-Revenge-Metaphysical-Found...

He regularly posts on his weblog, including rebuttals to any critiques on his work where he thinks there is errors:

* https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com

It's also worth noting that Feser defends Aquinas' cosmological argument on the same Aristotelian principles in which it is grounded - someone going to his blog for just plain old Aristotle rather than Catholic apologia is going to be disappointed. He has used his blog to argue, contra Pope Francis, why the death penalty is actually a good thing. Like all things, worth a read but also worth a huge grain of salt.

> He has used his blog to argue, contra Pope Francis, why the death penalty is actually a good thing. Like all things, worth a read but also worth a huge grain of salt.

IMHO the word "good" may be a bit too strong, but at least justified or justifiable in theory, even if not implemented. He's co-written a book defending the position:

* https://www.amazon.com/Man-Shall-His-Blood-Shed/dp/162164126...

I haven't read the book, but one reasonable argument for it would be societal self-defense. We currently can lock dangerous people away safety so that they no longer can do any harm, but this is/was not always the case. If the prison infrastructure is not there to ensure dangerous people do no harm, it may 'necessary' to execute them to reduce the risk to the rest of society.

Possibly interesting - "An Aristotelian Approach to Quantum Mechanics"[0]

[0] https://www.academia.edu/35229710/An_Aristotelian_Approach_t...

An alternative take here: https://www.michalpaszkiewicz.co.uk/blog/reviewnapocs/index....

>This book presents an ontology that states that both matter and structure are important for the scientific explanation of any system (Hylomorphism).

Wow I never knew Haskell was so metaphysically important.

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