Would like to gain a greater understanding of the terms "determinism",positivism & mechanism and how each doctrine either interacts with or opposes the other. Suggestions for additional reading on the subject would be appreciated.

-- Mary Ann Hooper (h181105@aol.com), February 13, 2003

Answers

Hi Mary Ann, well this is not so easy because they mean different things to different people, and even if they met the same thing to different people those people would use different words and examples to explain them. So perhaps you don't come to the perfect definition of them as much as you just grow into them over time reading about them in different contexts. To help you on your journy, maybe it will help you if you think about it this way: suppose you had a machine that would give you the perfect answer to any question you asked it. And the reason it has the ability to give you that answer is because it is built out of a finite number of parts that all have to work together, like the parts in your car, their function is determined by their order in the machine or mechansim. It can't do anything but give you the right answer, if it wasn't a machine, if it had free will perhaps sometimes it could decided to lie to you. But it is a machine with all the parts engineered to work in an order that is determined, no ifs ands or buts. Got it, determined, machine. Now extend that metaphor to the universe, biology or anything you want to think mechanically about.

Now, think of a language, the perfect language for describing every aspect of the determined machine you have on hand. Think of a language with which you can describe all the realitions between all the parts of the machine, a language with which you can express the logical determinate workings of the machine with absolute clarity. And call that language Logical Positivism.

OK. The above may not be the perfect answer, but perhaps it will help while you grow into one. Best, David

-- david clark (doclark@yorku.ca), February 14, 2003.