[lbo-talk] munchers

[Miles Jackson]

ravi wrote:
> On Jun 10, 2009, at 1:18 AM, Michael McIntyre wrote:
>> So then, mathematicians by definition have no research program.
>
>
> You beat me to that. Miles, really, what's with the empirical fetish? 
> ;-) That is indeed blunt, but in a different sense than you intended.
>
>     --ravi
I just don't understand the casual and loose way that people are using 
the term "research program".  Apparently it is ludricious to state that 
mathematicians don't have a research program.  The fact is--they don't.  
They're not doing research, they're doing mathematics.  Research 
involves empirical investigation. 

Perhaps people are using the term "research" to mean "academic inquiry" 
in a general way?  If so, I agree that Chomksy has a research program, 
but then so does every philosopher and literary theorist.

Note that this is not an attack on these areas of study: I consider them 
valuable aspects of human experience and knowledge.  However, there is a 
meaningful conceptual distinction to be drawn between fields that build 
knowledge on the basis of empirical test and those that do not.  
Claiming that someone has a "research program" when they have not 
conducted any research to test their theories is bizarre to me.

Miles