Natural science, long considered part of philosophy, has lately focused on quantitative analysis to the relative neglect of other aspects of being. Despite this narrower scope, modern scientific inquiry often engages profound philosophical and social questions that defy quantification. The essays below examine of these issues, and also address some purely quantitative problems.
Essays
- Mathematical Resolution of the St. Petersburg Paradox (2023)
- Objective Measures of Human Inequality (2021) [Parts I-II only]
- Locality and Determinism under Bell Tests and Delayed Choice Experiments (2019-20)
EPR choice-of-measurement paradox and experimental tests, with implications regarding causal locality and determinism.
- Causality and Physical Laws (2013)
Examines whether physical laws are truly explanatory or merely descriptive.
- The Drake Equation Revisited (2012)
Quantitatively evaluates the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.
- Vitalism and Psychology (2010)
Examines modern misconceptions about vitalism and shows how an immaterial psyche is necessary for a logically and empirically sound psychology.
- Intensive and Extensive Magnitudes (2007)
A meta-mathematical analysis of the notions of number, counting and addition. Re-examines Henri Bergson’s contention that intensive magnitudes are not true quantities.
- Limitations of Statistical Analysis without Error Bars (2007)
Shows how analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) as used in the biological and social sciences inadequately tests against the null hypothesis, limiting the explanatory value of these studies.
- Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (2006)
Argues that most quantum paradoxes can be resolved by distinguishing the actuality of eigenstates from the potentiality of superpositions, following Heisenberg and Popper.
- A Critique of the Anthropic Principle (2006)
Shows how use of the anthropic principle as a cosmological explanation conflates a priori and a posteriori reasoning.
- Critique of Humanistic Psychotherapy (2005)
Examines the cultural and philosophical assumptions of humanistic psychotherapy.
- Monkeys, Fairness and Anthropomorphism (2005)
Critique of a 2003 Nature article exemplifying common fallacies of evolutionary behavioralism.
- Does a “religion of science” exist? (2004)
Examines the extent to which scientists attempt to pose as moral authorities, despite the epistemic limitations of physical science.
- Has “science” supplanted “religion?”: A Deconstruction of the Warfare Hypothesis (2004)
The popular hypothesis of historic warfare between science and religion, long abandoned by serious historians, is briefly critiqued, while questioning the utility of “science” and “religion” as constructs for historical analysis.
- Ehrenfest Urn Problem with Applications (1997)
A mathematical discussion of the Ehrenfest model of dissipation, considered as a random walk on a hypercube and a Markov chain, followed by an analytic solution of the generalized problem.
Special Feature
© 2005-2023 Daniel J. Castellano. All rights reserved.
