| K.R. Popper "Conjectures and Refutations" |
[Aug. 3rd, 2003|05:37 pm] |
Popper's correction of Kant's solution:
"Our intellect does not draw its laws from nature, but tries - with varying degrees of success - to impose upon nature laws which it freely invents."
So, since "To utter a word and mean nothing by it is unworthy of a philosopher" (Berkeley, De Motu, 1721), I wonder where did Popper get "freely". Our brain processes are shaped by bio- and info- evolution, so to imply that we can develop ideas independently from the environment is to go a bit too far.
He further writes:
"The modification of Kant's solution which I propose, in accordance with the Einsteinian revolution, frees us from this compulsion ( to impose an explanation once and for all). In this way, thories are seen to be the free(K.R.P.) creations of our own minds, the result of an almost poetic intuition, of an attmpt to understand intuitively the laws of nature. But we no longer try to force our creations upon nature. On the contrary, we question nature, as Kant taught us to do; and we try to elicit from here negative answers concerning the truth of our theories: we do not try to prove or to verify them, but we test them by trying to disprove or falsify them, to refute them.
Now the question becomes: where does the intuition come from? One could say it (the question) is irrelevant, since the origin of a theory is not that important. But if we fail to consider it, we may never find out what intuition is and how to form better intuitions. |
|
|
