Louisville Process Theology Network

Technical and Obscure?

It’s often said that Philosophy is no longer relevant.
Today’s philosophers seem to be studying things we can’t understand and ignoring
what we need. What we want are better answers to the big questions like --- What
is the meaning of Life?

University of Bristol philosophy professor James Ladyman
writes that the new frontiers in philosophy are in fields such as physics and
computer science. These are the fields that push the outer limits of human
knowledge in our times. Philosophers are needed in these fields to apply the
philosophical tools that might expose the flaws in the scientists’ epistemology
and methodology.

This requires them to thoroughly understand highly technical
and obscure specialties that are not generally accessible to the public. Ladyman
poses the question “Who understands the terms in which mathematicians and
theoretical physics communicates, other than those with sufficient training in
the relevant technical areas?” Most of us are not trained in the intricacies of
these disciplines.

We obviously depend on writers who can mediate between the
researchers and the public. Ladyman writes the philosophers gave us useful
answers to the big questions generations ago. Highly specialized research in the
sciences might yield some better answers to those questions; and maybe, answers
that only marginally better.

From “Why Philosophy is Not for the Masses” in “The
Philosophers’ Magazine”, 2^nd Quarter, 2011