Book Reviews: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions & Panpsychism and the Religious Attitude

Review of Thomas S. Kuhn's Book: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (by Stephen P. Smith): Kuhn rejects the attainment of truth that comes from science, but then he is found accepting the absolute truth of a Darwinian evolution now operating above the conflicts of science. To Kuhn, only this blind watchmaker drives the emergence of new scientific paradigms, and a successful paradigm is fittest merely because of an empty politics. Kuhn goes from contradiction to a circular argument: that science finds no truth because truth is not permitted at the level of the paradigm. This realization should provide the refutation of Kuhn's paradigm dependent science. But rather than admit the obvious that science somehow stumbles upon the truth by way of a paradigm turned induction, Kuhn would rather say that science does not seek truth at all. Even Popper would not go this far. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/180

Review of D. S. Clarke's Book: Panpsychism and the Religious Attitude (by Stephen P. Smith): Clarke writes much on the difficulties that humanists and universal mechanism have in explaining consciousness. There is basically no way to extend a one-way chain of forward causes and thereby solve the origination problem. That is, there is no way to explain a proto-mentality that has no adaptive advantage as the original mentality. Clarke argues that mentality must have been always present, that it is an eternal quality. And he also extends his insights into biological evolution. Clarke attributes mentality to all natural bodies exhibiting unity of organization and homeostasis. His view is a type of restricted panpsychism he calls "atheistic panpsychism". http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/181