Of course you cannot free yourself from the laws of nature; but the laws of nervous systems are not the same as the physical laws. Mario Bunge More Quotes by Mario Bunge More Quotes From Mario Bunge I believe that modern science supports free will, in showing that the brain can act spontaneously, not only in response to external stimuli. Mario Bunge support brain believe There is a continuum between science and philosophy. As Fichte said (but did not practice), philosophy should be the science of sciences. Mario Bunge should practice philosophy A distinguished cognitive neuroscientist confessed to me that, because of his religious upbringing, he could not get rid of psychoneural dualism. The idea that one ceases to be after death was too painful to him. Mario Bunge painful religious ideas It occurred to me that I had the duty to give society something in exchange for the free education I was getting. Mario Bunge free-education duty giving Communication accompanies social transactions and can instruct or stultify, mobilize or intimidate, but it is no substitute for production, collaboration and fight. Mario Bunge collaboration communication fighting Even philosophies who have denounced pseudosciences like psychoanalysis, have condoned pseudoscientific economic theories like neoclassical microeconomics. It is far safer and easier to criticize Freud and Jung than to criticize Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek, because the latter are backed by political movements whereas the former are not. Mario Bunge pseudoscience political philosophy My Third-World roots remind me that the vast majority of our fellow human beings live hungry, sick, and uneducated, and that most social scientists, even in that world, ignore that ugly reality. This is why my papers in mathematical sociology deal not with free choice among 30 flavors of ice-cream, but with social structure, social cohesion, and social marginality. Mario Bunge ice roots reality In any event, I don't believe in instant philosophy, because interesting problems take a long time to understand and work out. Just think of the problems of truth and justice. Mario Bunge philosophy believe thinking Few if any political philosophers have had the courage of tackling the Cold War. Even the best of them have kept silent or have stated some bromides glossing over the serious shortcomings of "our" side, such as racism, social injustice, extreme income disparities, the exploitation of the Third World, and environmental degradation. Mario Bunge political racism war Some of the big philosophical problems have been solved by science, at least to a 1st approximation. Examples: the problems of matter, and mind. Only philosophical reactionaries, like Noam Chomsky, claim that they are and will remain mysteries. Mario Bunge philosophical example mind A democratic state will protect the freedom to hold any beliefs other than those that harm others, such as racism. In particular, it will see to it that no one is harmed just because of her beliefs. Mario Bunge states racism belief Of course much remains to know, but we know how to learn: through scientific research. Mario Bunge remains courses research Under theocracies and other authoritarian regimes, the rulers are the moral authorities. Under genuine democracy some basic values are entrenched in the legal system, which is expected to be under democratic vigilance, and others are left to the person or the group, which ideally debate moral problems in a rational, free and cooperative manner. Mario Bunge legal-system groups democracy It is scandalous the way some scientists accept uncritically some of the most ridiculous speculations, such as the plurality of worlds, the opinion that spacetime has more than 4 dimensions, that particles can move faster than light, or that human life can be prolonged indefinitely. Mario Bunge light world moving
