[lbo-talk] Philip Mirowski - Social Physicist

[Chris Doss]

The ground here is even shakier because ancient philosophy/natural science did not really think in terms of natural laws. I'm not even sure the Greeks used the word "nomos" with reference to nature at all, or the Romans "lex." I think that starts in the Middle Ages, when they believed in a Law-Giver, which the pagans did not. Modern science tends to use the Law-Giver metaphysical framework whether it's conscious of it or not, as can be seen in the Intelligent Design debate (where it seems to be assumed that order-imposed-from-wthout and order-spontaneously-arising-from-within are the only two options).

----- Original Message ----
From: Vincent Clarke <pclarkepvincent at gmail.com>
Yes and no... I think you're treading on shaky ground here. It is, of
course, true that the hard sciences use linguistic terms and possibly even
metaphors derived from the Western legal systems of old - any anthropologist
will tell you that; every society establishes The Law before it creates its
own notions of natural laws. However, the structures in which these
metaphors are deployed is significantly different from legal structures.