Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science

David Lorimer

I remember the late Willis Harman quoting with some relish the sentence 'Epistemology is to scientists what ornithology is to birds!' He had a point. Scientists at the coalface have no time for epistemology, let alone ontology. However, whether they like it or not, modern science is based on a set of metaphysical assumptions that can be traced back at least to the 17th century, principally to Galileo, followed by Descartes and Newton. Because these assumptions are almost invariably unconsciously absorbed and passed on, it is critical to be aware of their influence. Einstein realized this when he said that 'Epistemology without science becomes an empty scheme. Science without epistemology is - in so far as it is thinkable at all - primitive and muddled'.

The first person to my knowledge to open up this field was E.A. Burrt in 1924 (see bibliography below). It is fascinating to reflect that his book was written at the same time as behaviourism was on the rise, as was A. N. Whitehead's Science and the Modern World. Both men stepped back from their immersion in the modern world to trace its evolution and development, with special reference to mathematics and physics. Another watershed book was the much maligned book by Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which popularised the idea of the paradigm within which so-called normal science was pursued. This in turn led to the notion of a paradigm shift, denoting a basic change of orienting assumptions and generalizations. Other writers developed parallels between scientific and theological orthodoxy in their treatment of heresy - this is basically derived from a radical difference in underlying assumptions.

The Network's Science and Esoteric Traditions group has been working on a manifesto for an integral science of consciousness, following some earlier work on principles applying to both science and esoteric traditions. We have analysed the assumptions of the prevailing world-view as follows:

• The universe is best understood mechanistically and atomistically
• The universe contains primary and secondary qualities (Galileo, Descartes)
• Primary qualities are defined as visible, observable, measurable or quantifiable, material and real. These lead to objective knowledge
• Secondary qualities are defined as invisible, non-observable, immeasurable or unquantifiable, immaterial and relatively unreal. These do not so much constitute objective knowledge as subjective (and therefore unreliable) opinion
• Broadly speaking, primary qualities are equated with inert matter and secondary qualities with mind
• Primary qualities are objective and secondary qualities subjective
• If matter is primary, then it gives rise to mind as a secondary phenomenon
• Hence brains give rise to consciousness (awareness)
• Therefore the idea of an independently existing soul or spirit is a superstitious and erroneous fiction
• Any evidence to the contrary is subjective and therefore unreliable
• God is an unnecessary hypothesis - chance and necessity are sufficient explanations for the origin and evolution of life and consciousness

We then spell out the epistemological and ontological consequences of this view:

Materialist /physicalist ontology (as related to consciousness)

• the universe is a unified closed physical system (physicalism)
• matter gives rise to mind in the course of biological evolution (emergentism, materialism)
• brains give rise to consciousness (epiphenomenalism or mind-brain identity), therefore:
• the death of the brain is the death of the person (nihilism)

Materialist epistemology

• empirical knowledge can only be acquired through physical senses and their instrumental extensions
• the observer can study world impersonally and separately from himself (objectivism)
• causes and explanations can only be physical - and upwards (positivism) · we understand a phenomenon through analysis of its parts (reductionism and atomism)
• purpose and meaning (why) are excluded from scientific analysis
• any evidence contravening this view is unthinkable and can be summarily dismissed.

With the advent of serious scientific interest in the nature of consciousness, there are two avenues of development: the first is the maintenance of consciousness studies within the existing framework of 'consciousness within science', while the second takes first person experience (and the possibility of transformation) more seriously by proposing a 'science within consciousness'. In other words by proposing that consciousness is in fact a fundamental feature of reality rather than an epiphenomenona of matter.

We then propose a less limiting set of assumptions as follows:

Postulates

• The universe is an organic multi-levelled interconnected unity with manifest and unmanifest aspects pervaded by life and consciousness
• The evolving universe reflects intelligence, order, creativity, meaning and purpose
• Science cannot be separated from metaphysics
• Knowledge can be acquired not only by means of sense perception but also intuitively - there are degrees of knowing
• Explanations need not be restricted to the physical realm
• Consciousness is fundamental and formative - it drives evolution from within
• Life is experienced by us as energy and consciousness
• Consciousness can exist independently of physical substrates
• Human consciousness may in some form survive the death of the brain
• The universe is participatory (beyond the duality of subject and object) and the human mind is one of the ways in which it knows itself

We contend that these new postulates can potentially make sense of well attested phenomena (such as ESP and spiritual experiences) that currently lie beyond the explanatory range of science. It should now be obvious to the reader how important and defining our metaphysical assumptions are.

Key texts

Burtt, E. A. (1924). The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
The seminal historical text, still well worth a read. As he puts it: 'We have observed that the heart of the new scientific metaphysics is to be found in the ascription of ultimate reality and causal efficacy to the world of mathematics, which world is identified with the realm of material bodies moving in space and time'. Brilliantly encapsulates the developments stemming from Copernicus and Kepler, moving on the Galileo and Descartes, Gilber and Boyle before coming finally to Newton.

Harman, W. and Clark, J. (Eds.) (1994). New Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science. California: Institute of Noetic Sciences. ISBN 0-943951-11-9.
Modelled on and inspired by Burtt's book, this volume is the outcome of a series of seminars and is essential reading for anyone interested in modern developments. The context is very much set by Willis Harman, and there are essays by well-known figures like Roger Sperry, George Wald, Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne, Mae-Wan Ho, Brian Goodwin and Arthur Zajonc.

Whitehead, A. N. (1925). Science and the Modern World. London: Cambridge University Press.
Another key historical text that can be read with enormous profit and is much more accessible than Whitehead's later philosophical work. Contains superb chapters on the origins of modern science and mathematics as an element in the history of thought. It then charts developments form the 17th through to the 20th century and contains one of the first philosophical discussions of relativity and quantum theory as well as a radical chapter on the nature of abstraction. Ends with some considerations on Religion and Science.

Butterfield, H. (1949). The Origins of Modern Science. London: G. Bell and Sons.
Another classic series of lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge by the then Professor of Modern History. Covers the whole range of sciences and its leading ideas including evolution and gravitation.

Tarnas, R. (1993). The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-36809-6.
A brilliant book, and superbly written, explaining the transformations of the Western world view. One realises the extent to which one's categories are still those of Plato and Aristotle, or indeed those of Christianity. The book is particularly good on the history of ideas from the 17th century, but what makes it unique is its vision of a participatory reality spelt out in the epilogue. I regard this book as essential reading for any civilized person and one which surpasses Russell's History of Western Philosophy in a number of respects.

Dupré, L. (1993). Passage to Modernity: An Essay in the Hermeneutics of Nature and Culture. Yale: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-05531-0.
A remarkable book tracing the roots, development and impact of modern thought to late 14th century nominalism but with detailed treatment of some strands of Greek thought including the notion of the Kosmos. Explains the emergence of objectivity and the idea of the subject replacing that of the microcosm. Shows the fragmentation of the mediaeval world view and encourages the continuing search for an adequate conception of transcendence.

Nasr, S. H. (1989). Knowledge and the Sacred. New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0177-4.
A seminal work that formed Seyyed Hossein Nasr's Gifford Lectures. It begins with the desacralisation of knowledge and is written from a traditional viewpoint whereby the definition of science as scientia is nearer its original meaning. Discusses the images of man and nature from a traditional standpoint as well as the role of art and the nature of higher knowledge. Provides a robust antidote to the diminished modern understanding of the human being.

Holton, G. (1988). Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought: Kepler to Einstein. Harvard: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-87748-9. (Originally printed 1973).
Introduces the important concept of 'themata' as an element in the history of science, especially physics. Examples he gives include experience and symbol formation, complexity and simplicity, reductionism and holism, discontinuity and the continuum, hierarchical structure and unity, mechanisms and teleological approaches. A very original contribution.

Brown, H. (1986). The Wisdom of Science: Its Relevance to Culture and Religion. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31448-8.
Examines the significance of science and technology for culture over the last 300 years. Analyses the nature of change, philosophical interpretations of reality, then the cultural and religious dimensions of science. A very good historical introduction.

David Lorimer was Director of the Network from 1986-2000 and is still editor of the Network Review.