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A Distinction

Science cannot answer why

A method that brackets purpose cannot deliver purpose. This is not a complaint; it is the method working.


·6 min read
Science cannot answer why

A familiar argument now passes for wisdom. Someone asks what a thing is for, what a human life means, why suffering matters, why love obligates, why the universe exists, or what the good is. Another person answers by invoking science. He speaks of particles, chemistry, evolution, neurons, reproduction, social behavior, energy, or measurable causes. Then he concludes, sometimes explicitly and sometimes by tone, that the deeper question has been dissolved.