Natural sciences

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani approaches the natural sciences in order to set their limits. A science requires an object of its own, universal and necessary laws, and measurable statements. Yet to measure, in his view, is to subject reality to a human decree1. Determinism is written y = f(x), and science advances by extending this model, as far as living beings with Claude Bernard. He disputes the ideological use of quantum physics, which does not abolish causality but makes prediction statistical2. Extending this model to the subject would do away with freedom, and so with the question "what ought I to do?". With Kant, he distinguishes legislation through nature from legislation through freedom, and then natural matter, governed by cause and effect, from historical matter, governed by sign and meaning12. The subject, which endures through change, lies beyond the reach of the natural sciences. He also distinguishes the formalised discourse of the hard sciences from natural language, and sees a "con" in passing from one to the other3. Finally, he relates orbital resonance to Pythagorean ratios4.

1. 1#5.3 bis FaceBookLive / Questions13 Jan 2019
2. 29 #14 Comment des sciences de l'histoire peuvent-elles être réelles?5 Feb 2021
3. 3Mann (Thomas)23 Oct 2019
4. 4#7 Réponses aux questions (suite)3 Dec 2020

Introduction produced automatically from the 4 sessions on this theme, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the sessions.