Creationism and Intelligent Design Another ID knockdown, by Sarkar 8 Jun 200918 Sep 2017 Intelligent design (ID) is perhaps the most widely-discussed non-idea of all time. There seem to be three reasons why real scholars discuss it: 1. It is historically an idea that had influence on intellectual history, up to, say, 1860 2. It is an idea that needs to be discussed because… Continue Reading
Epistemology A Code of Conduct for Effective Rational Discussion 6 Jun 2009 Beneath the fold, I have stolen some text that lists 12 principles that make intellectual argument possible. In turn, this list was taken from Attacking Faulty Reasoning: A Practical Guide to Fallacy-Free Arguments by Edward T. Damer, which was recommended in comments by G. Felis. I have added in italics… Continue Reading
Science Homeopathy is dereliction of a duty of care 5 Jun 2009 In a rather upsetting case in Australia, two Indian homepathic parents (I do not mean that they parented by diluting contact) have been convicted of failing to render a duty of care to their 9 month old daughter, who died from an infection caused by eczema. They treated their daughter… Continue Reading
History The Times purveys some science myths 4 Jun 2009 This is just bad reporting and scholarship. Probably done to fill some space in a hurry or something. Hannah Devlin is claiming that there are several cases of scientific plagiarism including, you guessed, Darwin from Wallace. They claim Copernicus stole from a Persian astronomer, al-Tusi, becuase the same diagrams were… Continue Reading
Evolution Quetelet and the origin of statistical and population thinking 4 Jun 2009 Adolphe Quetelet is a much overlooked figure in the history of scientific methodology: he marked that populations had distributed properties that were largely constant, even though individuals varied in ways that seemed indeterminate. He noted that hat sizes and belt sizes were constantly distributed in different samples. Will Thomas at… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Why should abortion be a matter of public policy? 1 Jun 2009 Something I don’t get, possibly because I’m a white male, is why we should pay any attention in the public domain to the concerns various people have about abortion. If Catholics don’t like it, don’t do it. If Protestants don’t like it (and that is something that only arose in… Continue Reading
History How many ways can you make a logical mistake? 31 May 2009 A while back I got interested in the various taxonomies of fallacies, such as the Fallacy Files, each giving their own set of names. It set me thinking: how many fallacies are there? From that question it hit me: there are as many fallacies as their are of unique ways… Continue Reading
Administrative What I have been doing lately, and why 30 May 2009 It seems like only yesterday that we moved to these new digs, when in actual fact it’s a few days before yesterday. But I have been busy in real life, which is an uncommon occurence (having a real life, I mean), so I have not blogged as well or deeply… Continue Reading
Media Plagiarism, citations, and fact checking 26 May 200922 Jun 2018 Some interesting things in the web lately. One is a new system that purports to find cases of plagiarism. Science reports on the new Dèjá Vu database [news summary here; both behind the Science paywall; check this and this if you don’t have access], which checks content of science papers… Continue Reading
Philosophy Burke on Definition 25 May 2009 I was discussing whether science or religion can be defined, when I was reminded of this: No lines can be laid down for civil or political wisdom. They are incapable of exact definition. But, though no man can draw a stroke between the confines of day and night, yet light… Continue Reading