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Articles

Newton’s Flaming Laser Sword

Mike Alder explains why mathematicians and scientists don’t like philosophy but do it anyway.

As a mathematician, I take care not to be caught doing philosophy. When I buy my copy of Philosophy Now, I ask the newsagent to wrap it up in a brown paper bag in the hope that it will be mistaken for a girly-mag.

I am not alone in this; most scientists and mathematicians regard philosophy as somewhere between sociology and literary criticism, both ranking well below, say, kissing slugs on the list of healthy activities in which one might indulge before dinner. Why is this? Are we not clever enough to understand it, too rigid in our thinking to find it stimulating? Too shallow to grasp fundamental issues? Or have we worked it all out and gone past it? I shall try to explain why scientists and mathematicians are inclined to be dismissive of the subject. And why we are in fact still doing it, and that the name has been changed, no doubt to protect the innocent.

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