Heidegger and Science

Posted on January 8, 2010
Filed Under Heidegger | 3 Comments

I was discussing science, math and Heidegger the other day. I came upon a paper by Joseph Rouse that is useful. “Heidegger on Science and Naturalism” (PDF) He’s done quite a lot on it.

The important thing to remember with Heidegger is that mathematics is more than numbers. Unsurprising since it is for mathematicians as well. However a lot of people who haven’t taken math outside of High School are often ignorant of just what mathematics is. For Heidegger mathematics is a kind of very basic ontological structure. Mathematics as done by mathematicians is made possible by this ontology. (As is in the numerical)

This move from the things of regular discourse (typically ontic considerations) to the ontological can be pretty confusing if you aren’t familiar with Heidegger and the difference between the ontic and ontological. It is, I think, one reason why Heidegger is so misunderstood.

The importance of mathematical projection for science has long been recognized by philosophers of science. And Heidegger of course doesn’t miss this either. And this is a question of ontology.

The way to think about this is by thinking of Kant. By the late 19th century Kant had been taken over by the neo-Kantians who largely were concerned with epistemology. They tended to see Kant through the lens of this pure epistemological approach to philosophy. Heidegger came in and read Kant not in terms of epistemology (the structures of knowing) but rather in terms of ontology or (for Heidegger) the structural characteristics of human existing. That’s a very rough way of casting it, but I think it help clarify things since most people are at least vaguely familiar with Kant. The focus moves from knowledge (which at least since Descartes if not Plato has been the focus and foundation of a lot of philosophy) into existing itself and more particularly the question of being.

So for science, the question is what lets scientific objects be the kind of objects they are for scientists. It is clear that mathematics has a lot to do with that.

Related posts:

  1. Heidegger and Kuhn
  2. On Kant, Heidegger, and OOP
  3. German Mind
  4. Heidegger vs. Levinas
  5. Why Trust Kant?
  6. Harmon on Science and Heidegger

Comments

3 Responses to “Heidegger and Science”

I like the way you put that question.

This is one reason I think Badiou has something significant to contribute to philosophy of science.

As soon as I feel a little better I really need to get back to reading Badiou…

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