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I mentioned this below, but it's even more relevant here: one of the most interesting things I learned in college is that physics departments used to be called
by dcow 9y ago
I mentioned this below, but it's even more relevant here: one of the most interesting things I learned in college is that physics departments used to be called natural philosophy. If you're interested in the cyclic nature of philosophy and dogma and the tension between them, check out Kuhn. He invented the term "paradigm shift". And as you allude to, he argues that "true progress" is impossible without a breakdown and reimagining of the prevailing belief system, the social rut, that has captured people's immediate attention.
- nerfhammer 9y ago"natural philosopher" = "scientist" before we had a separate term for it.
- Tomte 9y agoAll the sciences gradually split off from philosophy: physics, biology, chemistry, sociology, psychology, ..., even theology. Whenever a subfield of philosophy got to the point that it had sufficiently many interesting theories to occupy several people fulltime, it got its own name (for practical reasons) and, after some time, was considered to be its own.