[The Typing Baker] Philosophy and Science Were Siamese Twins Until Modern Times... It Was Imagination That Made Science Possible

Book 'The Duck Toy of Science Wandering in the Bathtub of Philosophy'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] From ancient Greece to the late modern period, philosophy and science were conjoined twins. The scholarly achievements of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (BC 384?BC 322) encompassed fields such as physics, mechanics, and biology, which are considered sciences today. Ren? Descartes (1596?1650), who heralded the beginning of modernity, was both a philosopher and a mathematician and physicist. After the scientific revolution in the 17th century, which established classical mechanics, science gradually separated from philosophy.

The pace of scientific development, once detached, was remarkable. Leaving issues like morality and ethics to philosophy, science focused on how the world is structured and how it can be useful to humans. Drones, robots, and artificial intelligence (AI) are the latest results of scientific advancement. However, it is undeniable that alongside dazzling scientific progress, various side effects such as the loss of human dignity and environmental destruction have also emerged.

Recently, many lectures on YouTube and TV programs reflect on the mistakes of science and argue for seeking new paths in philosophy. The intention is to use creativity discovered in philosophy as a driving force to accelerate the slowed scientific engine, alongside normative reflections that science has neglected.

The humanities book craze that once swept the STEM job market is no different. It contains an implicit perception of philosophy as a tool for science. However, it is a positive phenomenon in that science, which had been running straight ahead, has begun to seek its roots.

It may be natural for science, which had gone astray, to return home. Many things once considered the exclusive domain of science were actually first contemplated in philosophy long ago. The recently published book The Duck Toy of Science Wandering in the Bathtub of Philosophy sharply proves this. It reexamines the relationship between the ideas of nine modern philosophers?from Francis Bacon (1561?1626) to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770?1831)?and science through their writings.

When did humanity first conceive of AI robots? Many might guess it was no earlier than the 20th century, when computers were developed. However, a passage in Homer’s Iliad (circa 750 BC) says: "Handmaidens made of gold supported their master. They looked just like living girls but had understanding, voice, and strength in their chests. They also knew the handicrafts of the immortals."

Science strictly rejects impossible fantasies or beliefs in the invisible. It only trusts what is proven by measurable experiments. However, The Duck Toy of Science Wandering in the Bathtub of Philosophy points out that what has been excluded from science has actually been the driving force behind scientific progress.

Professor Dongwook Seo of the Department of Philosophy at Sogang University says, "What makes science possible is not science itself but prophecy that does not qualify as scientific knowledge," adding, "Paradoxically, science can only navigate like a ship floating on a vast ocean when it is carried on the prophetic and imaginative human mind."

It is interesting that the two pillars of 20th-century modern physics, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, owe much to the Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian David Hume (1711?1776). It is well known that Einstein (1879?1955) was an ardent fan of Hume and based his empirical epistemology on Hume’s concepts of space and time when formulating relativity theory. The 'contingent worldview' of quantum mechanics, which overturned the causal worldview of Isaac Newton (1642?1727) and Einstein and became the mainstream modern physical theory, finds its intellectual roots in Hume’s posthumously published 1779 work Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. In this book, Hume argued that discussions about God should be excluded from philosophy and science. This means separating necessity and certainty from these disciplines, influencing quantum mechanics based on 'probability' and 'chance' as well as evolutionary theory.

(The Duck Toy of Science Wandering in the Bathtub of Philosophy / Written by Dongwook Seo et al., Science Books / 18,500 KRW)