Aristotle and Positivism

Aristotle's Positivism
Positivism is a philosophy which is attributed to the ancient philosopher, Aristotle, which states that any logical reasoning must take into account or include sense experience and the positive values of Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, Intuition, Love, Logic, Values, meaningful happiness, pleasure, individual freewill or autonomy, metaphysics, philosophy, very good food, clothing, home, education, self-actualization, recreation, entertainment, vacations, transportation, health care, and dental care. The alleged positivism of Auguste Comte is a fraud.

Cultural Relativism is Incoherent

Cultural Relativism is an incoherent ethic and epistemology. You see, there are cross cultural logic rules that apply in every culture. These rules are the basis for the natural law of Sheriff's Law, also known as the Law of Logic. You can prove, cross culturally, the validity of logic starting either with ideas, or with sense experience. Either you can say, in the abstract, that it is impossible for A and not A to exist in the same time and the same place in some ideal or hypothetical world, or, in the alternative, you can say that, in the concrete, it is impossible to have a physical (A)pple and no physical (A)pple in your left hand, at the same time in the same place in the material universe. Thus, both in the abstract, and in the concrete, we can see that it is factually and logically impossible for A and not A to exist, or be asserted, in the same time and the same place. Moreover, that which is logical is defined as that which does not involve a logical contradiction. In other words, as long as you do not assert that some statement or argument (A) pertains, and the same time in the same place that you are asserting that (not A) pertains, then you are making a logical statement or argument. Logical statements or arguments are permitted and are considered valid, while illogical or logically contradictory arguments are not permitted and are not considered valid. Given the foregoing, there a number logical fallacies which cannot be permitted, and which are invalid. These logical fallacies include: 1. The fallacy of appealing to an authority; 2. The fallacy of hypocrisy;
3. The fallacy of shifting ground; 4. The fallacy of appealing to conventional morality;
5. The fallacy of appealing to the mob; 6. The fallacy of asserting the validity of the precedent by affirming the consequent; 7. The fallacy of deriving a conjunction from a disjunction;
8. The fallacy of lying; and the fallacy; and the fallacy of making a personal or ad hominem attack. Accordingly, we can say that while the idea of cultural relativism is incoherent, the idea of moderate relativism is not. Moderate relativism allows for a reasonable range of statements or argumentation which do not involve logical fallacies or sophistry. Finally, another reason that logic, logical reasoning, and logical principles are cross culturally valid, is that you can teach the typical 5 year old in any culture, the use and principles of logic in about one hour. Thus, it is possible for any person to engage in deconstruction activities using logic.

(C)Perpetual Copyright 2011 by Anthony J. Fejfar, B.A., J.D., Coif, and Neothomism, P.C. (PA)

Lonergan and Logical Positivism

Bernard Lonergan describes the Epistemology of the Cogntional Structure, which is that, reality is best known through the interrellated cognitive activities of: Experience, Understanding, Judgment and Reflection. On the other hand, Logical Positivism is an Epistemology which assertst that reality is best known through the cognitive activities of: logical reasoning from experience. In an attempt to reconcile these two positions, the Epistemology of Logical Positivism can be stated as: experience and logical reasoning in relation thereto
This logical positivist formulation is close to Lonergan because in addition to experience, logical reasoning requires a type of understanding which uses logical consistency as a requirement.

(C)Perpetual Copyright 2011 by Anthony J. Fejfar and Neothomism, P.C.

Sense Experience and Science

Some scientists, and logical positivists, claim wrongly, that reality is best known by simply starting with sense experience and working from there. In fact, sense experience is homeostatic. That is, to some degree, sense experience is affected by the environment in which it operates. Thus, a person's hand feels cold when it is place in tepid water after having been placed in a bucket of hot water. Similarly, a person coming out of a dark room into sunlight will have to adjust his or her vision in a way that would not happen if the person had entered a dimly lit room. The taste of some food tastes different when another food is eaten first, such as a food which is either sweet or sour. Also, with respect to hearing, it is clear that human hearing does not cover the full range of sound that is being produced in the outside environment. Thus, a dog can hear a dog whistle, but a human being cannot. Finally, there are optical illusions which can only be explained throught the use of human understanding, such as, why it is that a straight dowel looks crooked when place in a glass tank of water, and then is observed from the side of the tank.