PZ Myers on the radio

[pw201]

Did I mention I was on Christian talk radio once? No? Well, anyway, some other chap called PZ Myers was also on Premier Christian Radio's Unbelievable programme, talking about science and religion, a topic much discussed in blog-land recently. His Christian opposite number was Denis Alexander, who runs something called the Faraday Institute here in

Comments

[brokenhut]

But Alexander is right that there are other legitimate ways to gain knowledge.

It's a shame no one ever lets on to what they might be, though.

[pw201]

If Inspector Morse tells me etc. etc., this is not science, but I don't think it's illegitimate.

[ex_robhu]

Are you saying that the scientific method is the only way to gain legitimate knowledge?

[brokenhut]

I ask again --- what are they, if they exist? What doesn't ultimately, come down to observation and testing?

[gjm11]

I suspect that you and robhu are using the word "science" in ways that are both defensible but mutually incompatible.

[ex_robhu]

Probably. I said 'scientific method' because I thought that would make things clearer.

[ex_robhu]

Is 'observation and testing' the scientific method? Can you please define what you mean by science (or whether you mean the scientific method, which is what I referred to)?

If observation is necessary then would you say that mathematics does not comprise legitimate knowledge? Mathematics does not refer to observable material things (which is one of the reasons why mathematics is not science).

Also - if I experience something but it is not repeatable, or not observable by you (or any of the other things that would mean it was not investigatable by the scientific method) - does that mean that my knowledge here is not legitimate?

[brokenhut]

Is 'observation and testing' the scientific method? Can you please define what you mean by science (or whether you mean the scientific method, which is what I referred to)?

I'm using observation and testing to refer to the scientific method. It seems a reasonable shorthand for a one-line comment. :-)

If observation is necessary then would you say that mathematics does not comprise legitimate knowledge? Mathematics does not refer to observable material things (which is one of the reasons why mathematics is not science).This is an interesting one, and the only example I could think of that could provide legitimate knowledge. However