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Truth and Error in Science
The relationship between reason, truth, and belief is one of the central questions of the philosophy of science, and has been addressed by nearly all of the major scientific thinkers. In 1880, the famous scientific thinker and professor Thomas Huxley claimed that "irrationally held truths may be more harmful [to science] than reasoned errors" (qtd. In Bridges, 93). This claim gets to the heart of problems not only with the scientific method but also with human reason in general.
In order to understand what Huxley meant by this assertion, we must understand the context in which he wrote it. This claim was made in an essay written about the future of Darwin's evolutionary theory. Huxley had long been a strong supporter and defender of Darwin's work, so much so that he was known as "Darwin's bulldog" (UCMP site). However, even Huxley's commitment to Darwinism did not stop him from worrying that evolutionary theory would become too firmly entrenched as a biological principle, and would no longer be approached with scientific skepticism. While...
This was dangerous, Huxley said, because "the essence of the scientific spirit is criticism" and "the scientific spirit is more valuable than its products" (Bridges, 94). For Huxley, it was more important to apply reason to all situations, even if that reason leads you to a faulty conclusion, rather than accepting anything without question.
Huxley was living and writing during a time when the questioning of scientific principles had led to major breakthroughs, not only in biology but also in physics and chemistry. The practical implications of many of these breakthroughs -- the widespread use of electricity, for instance -- were not yet developed, and so it would make sense that Huxley would consider the "spirit" of science more important than its products. But a counterargument to Huxley's philosophy can be made, and many of the industrial advancements of the 20th century…
References
Bridges, Horace James. The God of Fundamentalism: and other studies. Chicago: Ayer Publishing, 1969.
Sarkar, Sahotra, Jessica Pfeiffer and Justin Garson. The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2006.
"Thomas Henry Huxley." University of California Museum of Pathology Website. Retrieved October 29, 2011 from http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu / history/thuxley.html
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