When Ive challenged people to name another way of knowing other than empirical science, some have said maths. This might be a good answer. Im not a rationalist; I dont think you can derive truths from reason alone, but is maths an exception? (Gödels Incompleteness Theorem aside.) Zak has pointed out that you can observe 1+1=2, and that the axioms of maths are observable. But I say: Its not exactly observation. When you observe a number of iterations of (say) dropping a ball, youll observe slightly different times, but by using maths you can work out what the time should be in a perfect world. So is maths a form of using reason to find truths? Is it philosophy that works? Or is it another form of empiricism? Straighten me out here, people.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 00:21:53 +0000
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