Fascinated by the recent scientific progress, even some philosophers today claim that philosophy is dead and that natural sciences (quantum cosmology, cognitive sciences) can answer questions which were once considered a domain of metaphysics: is our universe finite? Do we have free will? etc. The essay tries to problematize this claims by raising a series of questions. First, it is easy to show that modern science itself relies on a series of philosophical propositions. Second, what accounts for the role of science in our world is its link with capitalism. Third, we should distinguish between knowledge and truth: not only philosophy, other discourses (like Marxism or psychoanalysis) also practice a notion of truth which cannot be reduced to knowledge.
Karen Barad, Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, Durham: Duke University Press 2007,
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design, New York: Bantam 2010,
Nicholas Fearn, The Latest Answers to the Oldest Questions, London: Atlantic Books 2005.
Jacques Lacan, Ecrits, New York: Norton 1997
Michel Foucault, “Truth and Power,” in Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and other Writings, New York: Random House 1980,
Gunther Anders, Die Antiquiertheit des Menschen [The outdatedness of human beings], Munich: Beck 1956.
Jürgen Habermas, “The Language Game of Responsible Agency and the Problem of Free Will: How Can Epistemic Dualism be Reconciled with Ontological Monism?,” Philosophical Explorations 10, no. 1 (March 2007): 31
Žižek, S. (2021). Philosophy, Science, Capitalism and Truth. Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 15(36), 36-52. doi: 10.22034/jpiut.2021.13837
MLA
Žižek, S. . "Philosophy, Science, Capitalism and Truth", Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 15, 36, 2021, 36-52. doi: 10.22034/jpiut.2021.13837
HARVARD
Žižek, S. (2021). 'Philosophy, Science, Capitalism and Truth', Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 15(36), pp. 36-52. doi: 10.22034/jpiut.2021.13837
CHICAGO
S. Žižek, "Philosophy, Science, Capitalism and Truth," Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 15 36 (2021): 36-52, doi: 10.22034/jpiut.2021.13837
VANCOUVER
Žižek, S. Philosophy, Science, Capitalism and Truth. Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 2021; 15(36): 36-52. doi: 10.22034/jpiut.2021.13837
Send comment about this article