• Question: Why can't scientist prove existential

    Asked by EllenL to Colin, John, Kevin, Shikha, Triona on 12 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      Hi EllenL,
      Anything which is to proved need to be demonstrated practically. Just like relativity theory which was never welcomed in its early days due to same fact.So same goes for this.

    • Photo: Kevin Motherway

      Kevin Motherway answered on 19 Nov 2014:

      I think the question you’re asking, if I’m right is can science prove existentialism.

      “a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.”

      While we area all free as Individual I suppose that since is about try to describe and discovers the rules that govern the universe. So there’s a it if a contradiction in that I as an individual am completely free to pursue a career in science; but being a scientist I may discover or confirm a rule of nature that governs us all and fundamentally challenges my freedom. E.g. I freely choose to become an evolutionary biologist but all my research confirms Darwin’s theory of evolution “survival of the fittest” and this rule is true for all life, including me. So by making a choice through free will to pursue a career in science I have in fact made myself subject to a rule that in effect will limit my freedom (or at least in the way that I perceive the world). Very thought provoking question.

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