Showing papers in "Zygon in 1971"
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TL;DR: This article argued that the impulsion to "make sense of existence" is just the beginning of wish fantasy, a desperate subterfuge to conceal the unbearable truth that existence is indeed absurd.
Abstract: Of course, it may be said that the impulsion to “make sense of existence” is just the beginning of wish fantasy, a desperate subterfuge to conceal the unbearable truth that existence is indeed absurd. This may be the case. But at least let us give the matter a hearing before we make up our minds to dis miss it.1
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TL;DR: Weiss's Life, Order, and Understanding: A Theme in Three Variations, published in 1970 as volume 8 supplement of The Graduate Journal of the University of Texas (Austin, Texas, #5.00 [hardcover], #2.50 [paperback], 157 pages) as discussed by the authors is the foreword to this issue of Zygon.
Abstract: This paper is the reprinting under a new title of the “Foreword” of Paul A. Weiss's Life, Order, and Understanding: A Theme in Three Variations, published in 1970 as volume 8 supplement of The Graduate Journal of the University of Texas (Austin, Texas, #5.00 [hardcover], #2.50 [paperback], 157 pages). We reprint this paper here for two reasons. The first is that its beautiful, scientifically grounded imagery of living systems in relation to wave dynamics provides a significant supplement to this issue of Zygon on human values in the context of thermodynamics. The second is that it is hoped this foreword will serve better than would a book review to introduce Zygon readers to the philosophical and scientific wisdom contained in Life, Order, and Understanding.–Editor.
TL;DR: For there is a struggle for human freedom to be waged not only against external centers of irresponsible power but against those equally irresponsible internal forces which in varying degrees dominate the mind and heart of every man.
Abstract: For there is a struggle for human freedom to be waged not only against external centers of irresponsible power but against those equally irresponsible internal forces which in varying degrees dominate the mind and heart of every man. Because of them, man may be free politically and economically, yet deeply enslaved. He can be free of all arbitrary external controls, yet live under the power ol internal compulsions which make of him an automaton: insatiable in his needs, inflexible in his methods, and incapable of learning intellectually or of maturing emotionally through experience. Because of these inner processes, man may be an absolute monarch or a constitutionally elected president, an abstract artist or a precise scientist, a criminal or a clergyman, yet not possess the greatest of all freedoms–the freedom to change.1
TL;DR: The methodological prerequisites for making such an assessment, including the criteria for valid causal inference, are described in this article, and attempts by American social scientists to determine the impact of religion are evaluated in terms of the criteria.
Abstract: structure. The methodological prerequisites for making such an assessment, including the criteria for valid causal inference, are described. Attempts by American social scientists to determine the impact of religion are evaluated in terms of the criteria. Most research fails to meet the minimal criteria for valid inference, much less the canons of causal inference.