Genealogy of Specious Dualisms

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Fri Mar 31 15:55:22 PST 2000


Curtiss Leung wrote:


> Hi Ted:
>
> > Even if you write it down on a piece of paper,
> > an equation is still ideal and eternal, and this is
> > what's supposedly governing matter.

This is called Platonism, and it is with that term that Bertrand Russell labelled himself as a mathematician. But of course laws, equations, theorems, etc. exist only in human brains. There is no e = mc(2) "out there" in the world, though matter moves in ways that can be described (for human understanding) by that equation. Ted is simply reintroducing the ancient quarrel over universals first theorized by Plato and Aristotle.

The odd belief that scientific laws (as opposed to what those laws describe) have an independent reality is just a modern version of Plato's forms. Ted's belief in this perhaps indicates the source of his odd beliefs about "minds." It is impossible to argue with a Platonist. They know by direct intuition of the universe.

Carrol



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list