21.405 cognitive science like alchemy

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 21, No. 405.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
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         Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:55:03 +0000
         From: Randy Radney <radney_at_twu.ca>
         Subject: Re: 21.398 cognitive science like alchemy

MIght I suggest: Dembski? NOTE:
"Cognitive science is legitimate science when it takes an
unprejudiced view of the relation between computation and
intelligence. Nevertheless, since cognitive scientists as a group are
notorious for deciding the issue in advance, I shall henceforth refer
to cognitive science qua science as the science of cognition. Thus I
shall use the phrase cognitive science pejoratively, implying that
science and philosophy have been conflated because intelligence was
prejudged as a form of computation. My view is that cognitive science
stands to the science of cognition much as alchemy stood to
chemistry. Certainly the alchemist's appeal to magic renders him more
ridiculous to modern eyes than the cognitive scientist's appeal to a
well-established materialist philosophy. But to my mind the cognitive
scientist's conflation of philosophy and science is no less damaging
to the science of cognition than the alchemist's conflation of magic
and science was to chemistry. The fault of the cognitive scientist
does not lie in his being simultaneously a philosopher and a
scientist, but in not telling us when he is serving in which
capacity. My purpose in this article is to untease that tangled web
of philosophy and science which constitutes cognitive science."
This quoted paragraph may be found at <http://www.origins.org/
articles/dembski_alchemy.html>

Cheers,
radney
(J. Randolph Radney, Ph. D.
radney_at_twu.ca)
Received on Tue Dec 11 2007 - 02:12:54 EST