A Rational Cosmology: The Errors of Empiricism-Positivism

Contemporary science is often mired in a terrible superstition, which forms a glaring breach between its findings and the conclusions and observations ubiquitously available to any man whose five senses function properly.

This superstition is not a belief in witches or cosmic spirits, but rather a new form of denying the evidence of man's most common faculties. It has been nurtured by a long line of philosophers, but its greatest emergence was seen during the twentieth century, as modern science increasingly succumbed to subjectivism, unverifiable theorizing, the dominance of "intuition," groupthink, and ultra-specialization which detached scientists from any findings or interactions outside their bizarrely narrow fields.

This superstition can be called many names, but its most comprehensive, and the one that shall be used throughout this treatise, is empiricism-positivism.

Very mildly put, empiricism-positivism holds, as its fundamental tenet, that any assertion, no matter how general, depends on some particular observation. The empiricist-positivist will claim that one cannot make any conclusions about space or time without first studying advanced quantum mechanics. He will claim that one cannot make any generalizations about human nature independent of the historical context of any given time period.

As a corollary to this inseparable attachment of empiricism-positivism to some specific observations, this doctrine holds that man cannot be certain about anything, since, because all conclusions depend on specific observations, some future observation always has the chance of refuting one's present appraisal of anything whatsoever!

But what will the empiricist-positivist say to the man who dares proclaim, "I exist!"? Is this a statement contingent on further observations? Can some further piece of evidence come along during that man's lifetime which can disprove his assertion?

What about another basic proposition: "Existence exists."? Can some new twist of quantum mechanics or ultra-microscopy refute that?

It is clear that, to base science, the quest for knowledge, on a doctrine that postulates man's perpetual ignorance and uncertainty, is a clear contradiction that fundamentally undermines the very purpose of science. The result is the sorry state of many of today's scientific branches.

To be clear, observation is critical to scientific progress; no man's mind can operate in a vacuum. Man's inherent capacity for rational thought is useless unless he has something to think about. However, true science, as a quest to systematize human knowledge, must depend on all observations, not just the esoteric or highly particular ones. In order to overcome the errors of empiricism-positivism, it is necessary to recognize that besides particular observations, there exist ubiquitous observations that any man can grasp and use to better understand reality.

Read other parts of "A Rational Cosmology" by clicking here.