Science a Road to Wisdom: Collected Philosophical Studies

133 Pages·1968·2.506 MB·English

by  Evert W. Beth (auth.)

SCIENCE A ROAD TO WISDOM
EVER T W. BETH
SCIENCE A ROAD
TO WISDOM
Collected Philosophical Studies
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.
DOOR WETENSCHAP TOT WIJSHEID. VERZAMELDE WIJSGERIGE STUDIEN
First published in 1964 by Van Gorcum & Comp. N. V., Assen, Holland
Translated /rom the Dutch by Peter Wesly
ISBN 978-94-017-5694-5 ISBN 978-94-017-6012-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-6012-6
1968 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland in 1968.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1968
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint,
microfilm, or any other means, without permission from the publisher
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
References to Dutch scholars and publications have sometimes been
omitted when this did not affect the continuity of the argument. Dutch
titles have been omitted in both parts of the Bibliography unless they are
referred to in the translation. The book by Halmos replaces a Dutch
introduction to set theory.
I am greatly indebted to Miss Veronique Kroon for expert assistance
in improving the English of the translation. The remaining imperfections
are probably the cases where I did not follow her advice.
v
CONTENTS
TRANSLA TOR'S NOTE V
FOREWORD IX
PREFACE XI
I. SCIENCE AS A CULTURAL FACTOR (1948) 1
11. NATURAL SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND PERSUASION
(1956) 11
111. MET APHYSICS AND SCIENCE (1946) 21
IV. SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHY: ITS AIMS AND MEANS (1948) 29
V. NIEUWENTYT'S SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE PHILOSOPHY
OF SCIENCE (1954) 35
VI. SYMBOLIC LOGIC AS A CONTINUATION OF TRADITIO-
NAL FORMAL LOGIC (1939) 42
VII. SO ME REFLECTIONS ON CAUSALITY (1955) 62
VIII. SCIENCE A ROAD TO WISDOM (1955) 69
IX. MODERNISM IN SCIENCE (1961) 76
X. MATHEMATICS AND MODERN ART (1962) 86
XI. IN RETROSPECT (1960) 95
XII. FREEDOM OF OPINION (1964) 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY 113
INDEX OF NAMES 117
INDEX OF SUBJECTS 120
VII
FOREWORD
A few days before his death my husband requested me to write a few
words of thanks on the publication of this collection of articles. He had
already prepared the greater part ofthe volume for the press and had also
decided on the title Science a Road 10 Wisdom. His original selection was
somewhat more comprehensive, which is still partly reflected in the
Preface. Knowing how much he wished to see this collection published,
I respectfully and lovingly fulfil his request, thanking Else M. Barth and
J. J. A. Mooij for their extensive and expert care in putting the final
touches to the volume.
ADDITION TO THE TRANSLATION
Finally, I wish to thank Peter G. E. Wesly for his willingness to undertake
the translation of the book into English.
c. P. c. BETH-PASTOOR
IX
PREFACE
In this republication of a number of philosophical studies I have refrained
from including articles of a specialized nature on symbolic logic and the
methodology of the exact sciences. There was no cause to include my
contributions towards the didactics of mathematics and physics, nor did
I consider it appropriate to reprint pieces of a predominantly polemical
nature. I decided, however, that a very modest selection from my purely
historical work would not be out of place.
Of the four stages in my intellectual development as set forth in Essay
XI, the first stage (up to 1935) is not represented, the second (1935-42)
is represented by Essay VI, the third (1942-50) by Essays I, 111 and IV.
The remaining essays (11, V and VII-XII) are characteristic of the
position I have taken up since about 1950. Thus the earlier periods are
represented comparatively scantily, the explanation being that I only
started publishing towards the end ofthe first stage and that most ofthese
publications are not suitable for thiscollection, for thereasons stated above.
Two essays (IV and V) originally appeared in English, the others in
Dutch. Ofthe essay which is now VIII, the middle part has been dropped.
I have made corrections in most of the papers, as weIl as some small
modifications ensuring the necessary uniformity of style, spelling,
notation and, as much as possible, of terminology. Moreover, I have
supplemented the bibliographical references and combined them into a
single bibliography.
Although I should hardly wish to answer for Bergson's weIl-known
dictum Un philosophe digne de ce nom n'a jamais dit qu'une seule chose
(nobody deserving the name of philosopher has ever said more than
one single thing), it still reassured me when I found that in some cases the
same line of thought, with slight variations, returned in several articles.
If all the alternative versions but one had been dropped, stylistically
unacceptable gaps would have appeared. Indeed, a number of alternative
readings may facilitate an accurate comprehension, while the recurrence
of the same line of thought in several different contexts gives an im-
XI
SCIENCE A ROAD TO WISDOM
pression of its fruitfulness. Taking all this into account, I have decided
on the following policy. Of each set of variants, one has been rendered as
completely as possible; the remaining variants have been shortened as
much as the context allows and have been provided with a reference to
the complete version.
Tbe material has been arranged systematically, not chronologically,
for the aim of this volume is, above all, to give the reader a coherent and
more or less complete survey of my ideas and my work in the field of
general philosophy, so that, I hope, there will be less misunderstanding
and uncertainty ab out it in the future. It is probably clear now that I have
not aimed at being exhaustive. For further elaboration and more detailed
explanations I refer to my monographs.
This book is intended for all who are interested in philosophy. A
reasonable amount of general knowledge is required, and the reader
should not object to some intellectuallabour: a book such as this is not
meant as light entertainment. I should be particularly gratified if it were
to be read by the younger generation.
It cannot be denied that many young people, especially those destined
by their talents and education to occupy leading positions in our society
in the near future, are much given to irrationalistic trends. This is quite
understandable; it is explained by the decline of traditional rationalism
and by the strongly increased attention for and knowledge ofthe irrational
forces in man. Moreover, ours is a time of unprecedented and yet ever
increasing rationalization of all forms of human life, and seeking refuge
in irrationality is no doubt partly a natural reaction to these conditions of
our time.
One does not, however, have to be an extreme rationalist to realize
that unbridled irrationalism can hardly be conducive to the adjustment
of the intellect to modern man's present and apparently self-chosen
environment, or to be concerned about the eventual consequences of the
lack of adjustment. If we wish to enjoy the benefits that our rational
civilization has to offe r without understanding the foundations on which
it rests, we shall not be able to make a critical evaluation of undesirable
forms of rationalization or to recognize dangerous developments before
it is too late. We would thus be powerless against the collectivism that
could proceed from undesirable forms of rationalism combined with
certain manifestations of the irrational drives in man.
XII
PREFACE
In order to adjust the intellect to contemporary conditions of life, to
make a critical evaluation of the different forms of rationalization and to
control the irrational forces in man, we shall require scientific discern
ment and a capacity for rational discussion. Certainly, these requirements,
while enabling us to act efficiently, do not guarantee sensible behaviour;
nevertheless, the wisdom we are seeking should be closely connected with
scientific insight.
I do not claim to have even so much as drawn the outlines of the
modern rationalism wh ich in my opinion our time stands in need of,
though I believe to have done some preliminary work for the development
of such a rationalism. In the first place, I have pointed out some weak
spots in the foundations of traditional systematic philosophy, which is
predominantly rationalistic. These foundations date back mainly to
Aristotle; my criticism does not, however, detract from my admiration
for this thinker whose work has determined the structure and develop
ment of western philosophy for over 2000 years.
In the second place I believe to have given modern logic a form which
renders it a suitable foundation for the development of a new epistemology
and a new ontology. Moreover, the conditions have thus partly been
created for the development of a new ethics which does justice to modern
psychological insight and at the same time avoids the extremism of
present-day irrationalism.
XIII