Philosophy, Science, Capitalism and Truth

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Professor of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis at The European Graduate School / EGS, Saas Fee -Switzerland

Abstract

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.  

Keywords

References

  • 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
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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 15, Issue 36 - Serial Number 36
Articles
English issue, (Interaction between Sciences and Philosophy)
November 2021
Pages 36-52

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