Definitions of Philosophy, Science, Technology, Scholarship, History, and Religion

NOTE: I asked Dr. Riddle to define Philosophy, Science, Technology, Scholarship, History, and Religion. This is what he gave me back the next day. – Ken Krogue

Philosophy: The love of wisdom. Asking the right questions.

Epistemology: How can we know? What can we know.

Science: What is real in the world we can sense. What are the facts, laws. What are the theories that explain the facts and laws? What are the postulates which control the theories?

Legitimate science: What the majority of the scientists say. No necessary connection with truth.

Illegitimate science: What the majority of the scientists reject. No necessary connection with truth.

Scholarship: Controlling the documents to build a case for something out of what other persons have written.

History: What really happened in the past? (A branch of scholarship, a form of fiction.)

Prophecy: What will really happen in the future? ( More dangerous to do than history.)

Metaphysics: What is real beyond that which we can sense?

Ethics: What is right to do, and what is wrong to do, if anything?

Esthetics: What is beautiful? Is the beauty in the beholder or in the object?

Technology: The patterns of accomplishing specific goals. Art is one form of technology.

(Because our society is basically Greek in mentality, science is given much greater stature than is technology, and scientists are given greater acclaim than are engineers or artists.)

The Basic Cultural Mentalities:

Greek: Knowing (understanding) is the most important human activity. (Science)

Roman: Accomplishing physical tasks is the most important human activity. (Technology)

Trojan: Physical beauty is the most important human attainment. (Appearance)

Hebrew: Doing what is right (blessing others) is the most important human activity. (Righteousness, which is a dirty word to many of Greek and Roman mentality and to most of Trojan mentality.)

Religion: The pattern of thinking, believing and acting that make up a person’s character.

Every normal human being has one, and there are as many of them as there are people.

Church: A social organization which attempts to promulgate some religious pattern.