Abstract
Setting limits to knowledge is a worthwhile enterprise of no less importance than the unwearied endeavor to move the boundaries of knowledge a little further. Indeed, the establishment of such limits may provide a cornerstone for the construction of a new theory or a profound insight into scientific practices. This century has seen two such contributions in science: the uncertainty principle and the incompleteness theorem. Undoubtedly, these results of Heisenberg and Gödel constitute essential elements of our current knowledge of, respectively, the physical and the formal—physics and mathematics. Both results exhibit a fundamental proof of limitation: a proof of
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Science At Centurys End |
| Subtitle of host publication | Philosophical Questions on the Progress and Limits of Science |
| Editors | M. Carrier, G. J. Massey, L. Reutsche |
| Place of Publication | Pittsburgh |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh Press |
| Pages | 284–307 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780822941217 |
| State | Published - 2000 |
Keywords
- Applied philosophy
- Atomic physics
- Atoms
- Bacteriophages
- Biological sciences
- Biology
- Bodies of water
- Cell biology
- Cells
- Concept of mind
- Creeks
- Cytology
- Earth sciences
- Experimentation
- Geography
- Geomorphology
- Jurisprudence
- Law
- Metaphysics
- Microbiology
- Microorganisms
- Microphysics
- Philosophy
- Philosophy of law
- Philosophy of mind
- Philosophy of science
- Physical sciences
- Physics
- Quantum mechanics
- Rivers
- Rule of law
- Scientific method
- Thought
- Viruses
