Philosophy of Science in the Light of the Perennial Wisdom

Backed by its technological achievements, modern science appears as the de facto source of truth to the majority of our contemporaries. Its sole reliance on reason and empirical data gives it an air of objectivity that has conferred upon it an almost unquestioning authority. Against the backdrop of this pervasive scientism, Philosophy of Science in the Light of the Perennial Wisdom is a daring attempt to offer an intellectual critique of modern science in its foundation by rigorously examining the intrinsic limitations of rational thought and empirical investigation. Unique of its kind, this book offers a refreshing look at the traditional doctrines of epistemology and metaphysics as an antidote to the subjective as well as objective errors of modern science, which is thus revealed as no more than a belief system that falls radically short of offering a full knowledge of reality; this, in contrast to the perennial wisdom of the world's great religions that for millennia have offered humankind not only keys to true knowledge, but also the means of attaining it, which precisely constitutes man's reason for being.

Mahmoud Binawas born inTehran, Iran, in 1938. He received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Göttingen, Germany, in 1969, and subsequently a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1973. He taught a wide range of courses in mathematics as well as philosophy of science at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, from 1977 until his retirement in 2006. Dr. Bina and his wife live in Isfahan, Iran.

Alireza K. Ziarani was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1972. He studied mathematics at McGill University, Canada, and later engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he received a Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2002. A tenured faculty member at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, he taught courses in engineering and science before leaving for the private sector in 2009. He currently resides with his wife in Bloomington, Indiana.

Authors' Note vii

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1. Foundational Questions 7

What is Science? 7

Modern Views of Science 9

The Limitations of Reason 13

How Can We Know that a Doctrine is True? 18

The Subject and Object of Science 22

2. Man's Faculties of Knowledge 25

Platonic Anamnesis 26

Has Platonic Anamnesis Withstood Attempts to 29

Prove it False?

3. The Degrees and Modes of Reality 35

The Degrees of Reality 35

Symbolism: The Language of Metaphysics 44

The Modes of Reality 47

Consequences of the Lack of a Metaphysical 49

Perspective

4. The Doctrine of Causes 57

The Instrumental Cause 59

The Paradigmatic Cause 61

The Importance of the Paradigmatic Cause 64

5. Science in the Mirror of the Religions 69

Examples of Science in Sacred Scripture 71

Science and the Idea of Progress 76

Do the Religions Deem All Science Good? 78

Epistemological Doctrines of the Religions 84

Traditional References to the Multiple States of Being 96

6. The Incompatibility of Modern Science 103

with Religion

Concluding Remarks 111

Modern Science and the Perennial Wisdom 111

The Nature of Plenary Science 115

Index 119

Biographical Notes 125