SCIENCE vs. PHILOSOPHY
There is an increasingly widespread view that philosophy — that ancient pursuit of meaning, truth and understanding that has been with us for several thousand years at least — is dead in the modern world. Science, so goes the argument, has answered all the questions that philosophers once pondered: From a scientific perspective, there is no grand design, no cosmic plan that bestows meaning upon our lives. As scientists delve deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos, their discoveries reveal a universe that is vast, ancient, and seemingly indifferent to our presence. It’s easy to understand the appeal of this position. Science has been extravagantly successful in explaining the natural world, and its discoveries have led directly to stunning technological achievements, from heart transplants to the moon landing. Philosophy, on the other hand, hasn’t achieved anything that could be considered a clear breakthrough in human understanding. Not so very long ago, sc...