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Atkins vs Midgley: The Limits of Science - part 3

Science is just one discipline among others.

Issue 39, 25th October 2015
| Moral philosopher, author of Beast and Man and Wickedness
762 words
Read time: approx. 4 mins

This article is part of The Limits of Science: an ongoing debate between scientist Peter Atkins and philosopher Mary Midgley.

Midgley launches the debate by arguing that science does not have the answers to every question. In Science Unlimited, Atkins contends that, in fact, science will explain all of existence. Then, Midgley responds in Knowledge is Not an Empire, by arguing that science is just one field of enquiry among others. Now, Atkins counters that only science offers us a deep understanding of reality.

Mary Midgley
Issue 39, 25th October 2015

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Good.David 18 October 2019

I find Mary Midgely's argument strange. She seems to be saying that science is a set of subject areas (physics, chemistry, biology etc) and that there are other subject areas which it does not include. In reality science is a set of methods which use evidence as the criteria for establishing knowledge, as opposed to, for example, religion, that bases knowledge on belief and appeal to authority of scriptures and pronouncements of religious leaders.

Why does she believe that it's not possible to use scientific methods in anthropology, sociology, economics and history?

math analysis 22 December 2015

all questions are to be analysed from 2 directions called top down and bottom up - the former has merit but leads to confusing debate eg i believe in a spirit world or the converse but nonetheless we can view from the top and work down calculating at every level and finally linking up with the bottom up analysis ? for example we can accept that humans are interested in the concepts of religion which consist of a need and existence of a hidden world which in evolutionary language has a higher intelligence level and monitors or controls our world ? question is ........

karl4 31 October 2015

Science is a way of observing and analyzing observations from multiple observers. Why try to compartmentalize fields of knowledge?