There is a simple antidote to this nonsense: if you do not believe objective empirical truth exists, then how can you ever say or imply that neoclassical or Austrian economic theories are objectively false?
Or if that does not get through, try this: is it not an objective historical truth that the Holocaust happened?
And if you still deny it is an objective empirical truth, then why do you think it happened? Doesn’t the belief that it did happen commit you to accepting an objective reality in the past, and the view we can objectively describe that real event in a true sentence? (in other words, an objective truth?).
The reality is, quite simply, that the pursuit of objective empirical truths about the world is the foundation of all human sciences and knowledge, and if you are not engaged in the search for truth but claim to be engaged in some kind of science (whether in the natural or social sciences), you are an intellectual charlatan, a fool and a fraud.
Further reading here:
“The Consequences of Postmodernist Truth Relativism,” October 25, 2015.
“Foucault’s Truth Relativism,” March 25, 2015.
“A Challenge to Truth Relativists,” March 20, 2015.
“Foucault’s View of Truth,” February 18, 2015.
“John Searle’s Argument for Objective Truth,” February 14, 2015.
All true, but ...
ReplyDeleteyou can't reason a man out of something he wasn't reasoned into. Pomo relativists were not reasoned into their positions. They adopt them as a symbol of group membership and as a way of deflecting uncomfortable truths. It's a character flaw not mistaken reasoning that's at fault.
Enjoy. http://order-order.com/2016/08/17/unemployment-falls-brexit/
ReplyDeleteAFAIK the great strength of Postmodernism is in pointing out the difficulty of getting outside one's own frame of reference to be able to get at so-called "Objective Truth." That's 100% sound and quite verifiable. That we all approach things with our lenses should be a given.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the question in the meme, it's a matter of what the Quakers call "listening together." That's why we have debate and democracy - the more checks and balances the better. In my experience & from my viewpoint, Austrian Economics is wrong. So let's look around and see what's happened when it's been supposedly put into practice and double-check our facts and draw inferences from there.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/05/16/editor-in-chief-of-worlds-best-known-medical-journal-half-of-all-the-literature-is-false
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientists-think-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/80480/20150830/new-research-suggests-psychological-experiments-are-unreliable-and-psychologists-are-relieved.htm
https://youtu.be/9_Kkx-U8_94