An investigation of some recent efforts to justify metaphysical statements derived from science with special reference to physics

205 Pages·08.085 MB·English

by  Ramm, Bernard Lawrence

AN INVESTIGATION OF SOME RECENT EFFORTS
TO JUSTIFY METAPHYSICAL STATEMENTS DERIVED FROM
SCIENCE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PHYSICS
A Dissertation
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Philosophy
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Bernard Lawrence Ramm
June 1950
UMI Number: DP2962Q
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This dissertation, written by
Bernard Ramm
under the guidance of Ms Faculty Committee
on Studies, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Council
on Graduate Study and Research, in partial ful­
fillment of requirements for the degree of
DO CTOR OF P H ILO S O P H Y
Date.A Eril_2J.,..1950
Committee on Studies
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM........... 1
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICS FOR METAPHYSICS. . 11
III. THE GENERAL USE OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN
METAPHYSICS AND IN METAPHYSICAL SYSTEMS. . 17
Naturalism........................... 18
Re al ism............................. 30
Northrop1s physical theory ............. . 37
Eddingtonfs subjectivism ................. 40
IV. THE NEW TELEOLOGY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES . . . 46 -
V. RELATIVITY THEORY AND METAPHYSICS..... 72
Subjectivism . ............. 74
Realis m .............................. 79
Alexander...................... ......... 80
Evaluation............................ 87
VI. ATOMIC PHYSICS AND METAPHYSICS......... 89
Introduction........................... 89
Prediction......................... 91
Heisenberg's Principle ................. 92
Statistical laws................... 93
Philosophical consequences ............... 94
Introduction....................... 94
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
Subjectivism............................ 95
Causal i t j .............................. 97
Free-will.............................. 103
The existence of atoms . . .............. 112
Spiritualization of matter . . . . . . . 118
VII. ENTROPY AND METAPHYSICS..................... 125 ,
VIII. EVALUATION OF THE PLACE OF SCIENCE IN
METAPHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY............... 139
Limitations . ......................... 140
Positive contributions ................... 150
Conclusions.............................. I54 •
BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................... 180
CHAPTER I
THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Bertrand Russell has said that every significant
difference between the modern world and the Renaissance
"whether for good or evil” is traceable ultimately to the
influence of science, and that "nothing that goes against
science has any chance of lasting success in the modern
w o r l d . T h i s dictum is of special interest to philoso­
phers. Due to this great impact of science upon western
culture each philosopher must make his peace with science.
This increasing role that science is playing in western
thought stands in need of analysis. There are at least
three types of influence that science has had upon our
culture.
(1). Science, in its theoretical aspect, has had
very marked success in every territory it has investigated.
^ Bertrand Russell, Selected Papers (The Modern
Library; New York: Random House [n. d. J), p. xiv. Compare
this with a remark by Moore: "While it would certainly be
an over simplification, it would not be a misstatement to
say that the thesis which underlies these lectures [of
Mead] . . . is this: .Science, with its demand for freedom,
with its demand for the substitution of rational authority
for the arbitrary authority which characterized the medi­
eval period, is the outstanding fact not simply of the
nineteenth century, but of all thought since.” George H.
Mead, Movements of Thought in the Nineteenth Century
(edited by Merrill H. Moore; Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1936), p. xi.
2
Muller has rhetorically said that science Is "the Jehovah
p
of the modern world," and It has, to some extent, earned
that title on the basis of Its conquests In scientific
theory. Although it is a technical and involved story,
the march of scientific theory from Galileo to quantum
mechanics is a glorious record. Its two most renowned
achievements are relativity theory and atomic theory. The
confirmations of relativity theory have taken it from the
realm of pure theory and placed it firmly upon empirical
groundings.^ The atomic bomb is a somewhat spectacular,
but nevertheless scientific, confirmation of the Empirical
validity of atomic theory.
This advanced state of theoretical science has had
its influence felt in philosophy, and western mentality as
a whole. Modern physics, comprising relativity theory,
and quantum mechanics, is ranked as one of the most influ­
ential ideas that the western mind has ever entertained and
has caused "the most profound reorganization of scientific
2 Herbert J. Muller, Science and Criticism (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1943), p. '5§~.
3 Einstein*s own discussion of this is in his work,
Relativity (translated by R. W. Lawson; New York: Henry
Holt, 1931), Appendix III, "The Experimental Confirmation
of the General Theory of Relativity."
theory the world has ever s e e n . A . E. Murphy^ indicates
that the very preoccupation of such men as Whitehead,
Eddington, and Bridgman with the epistemological features
of modern science means that a new situation has arisen.
Dingle, the English physicist, observes that "from the
philosophy of Samuel Alexander to that of the logical
positivists, the influence of this central concept of
Einstein's relativity has been profound," and Inge,'
quoting Muirhead with approval, believes that the most
pressing problem for idealism is to co-ordinate its meta­
physics with the recent physics and says that it is neces­
sary for realism to do likewise.
(2). Science has had a very practical success in
our modern life which has in turn enhanced its standing.
Industry, transportation, medicine, and home life have all
felt its magical and labor-saving touch. Propaganda
^ Oliver L. Reiser, Philosophy and the Concepts of
Modern Physics (New York: The Macmillan" Company, 1935),
P. *>7.
5 A. E. Murphy, "The Anti-Copernican Revolution,"
Journal of Philosophy, 26;282, May 23, 1929.
6 Herbert Dingle, "The Philosophical Significance of
Space-Time," Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, n.s.,
48:154, 1947-W:
7 William Ralph Inge, God and the Astronomers
(Warburton Lectures, 1931-33) London: Longmans, Green, and
Company, 1933), P. 6.
4
efforts in advertising built around the expressions "doctors
say" or "science has proven" indicate the extent scientific
methodology has impressed the hitherto untouched masses.
(3). By far the most serious impact of science upon
western culture has been that of metaphysical scepticism.
The most significant proof of this is the new standard of
evidence that prevails in our culture. The type of evi­
dence that was satisfactory to the schoolmen is now dis­
placed by the tough, factual, experimental, unequivocal
type of evidence that modern scientific scholarship uses.®
There is a hostile suspicion of everything substantiated
by intuition, emotion, or sentiment. "This new tinge to
modern minds," writes Whitehead, "is a vehement and pas­
sionate interest in the relation of general principles to
irreducible and stubborn facts.
Collier, furthermore, states that the logical result
of this emphasis on evidence is scepticism— which of course
is usually first felt in metaphysics. Metaphysics is now
undergoing its most serious trial since the days of the
Q
K. G. Collier, "The Impact of Science on the Wes­
tern View of Life, Hibbert Journal, 47:160, January, 1949.
9 Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern
World (Pelican Mentor Books; New York: The New American
Library, 1925), P. 3.
5
ancient Greek sceptics. Hall1*** gives a rather extended
excursus as to the present disrepute of metaphysics. The
first cause he gives is the actionism of our times which
considers metaphysics as an impractical effort. Part of
the argument of actionism is based on the success of science.
The second cause is the intense specialization of our day
as contrasted with the generality of metaphysics and in
specialization the scientist is the paragon for imitation.
Finally, there is the revival of positivism in the form of
scientism. At all three points science is either the lead­
ing actor, or a leading actor, in the current discrediting
of metaphysics.
Few writers in recent times have pointed out with
such relentless logic coupled with historical perspective
that the present godless, purposeless, "materialistic" mood
among the educated of today is due to the extensive en­
croachment of modern science upon our most basic attitudes
and philosophies of life, as W. T. Stace in his famous
article in The Atlantic.11 The very breath is being choked
10 Everett W. Marshall, "Metaphysics," Twentieth
Century Philosophy (edited by D. D. Runes: New York: The
Philosophical Library, 1943), pp. 143-94.
H W. T. Stace, "Man Against Darkness," The Atlantic,
182:53-57, September, 1948.