Retorts

Origin of Science

In reading the letter from Jack Grant-Mackie and the editorial note which followed it [April 1997], I felt that the real issues were only lightly touched on.

Certainly encounters with Islamic knowledge contributed to the Renaissance, (although Islamic knowledge stemmed, in part, from Greek philosophy and the Greeks were, after all, European. Perhaps we should include the Muslims as part of "Western" culture). And certainly we acquired much knowledge from the Chinese.

But is there a word in Chinese for "epistemology" that hasn't taken its root from a European language? Did the Chinese have a recognised, recorded system for comparing hypotheses? And did they compare them according to the criteria of adequacy that Europeans put together over the centuries?

In a general sense, science has been practiced for millennia, in many cultures. But the scientific method, as refined, recorded and recognised by Europeans, is unique.

C. J. Craigie, Upper Hutt