Is there any value to philosophy in the modern age? Why does there seem to be a conflict between science and philosophy?
There is no reason for science to be at odds with philosophy, and for the vast majority of western history, the two were not at odds. In fact, science wasn’t considered something separate from philosophy until the past couple centuries. Recently, scientists and philosophers have taken shots at each other publicly. However, both are extremely valuable, and share the same essential purpose: to pursue truth. We use Stephen Hawking’s infamous remark, “Philosophy is dead,” as a jumping off point for discussing this conflict.
I generalize quite a bit in this episode (e.g. “Scientists’ disdain of philosophy,”) but I recognize that there is a wide spectrum of opinion among scientists and philosophers; I’m only criticizing the segment of scientists and philosophers who see a conflict between science and philosophy. I spoke loosely for the sake of time and boredom of listeners, who would otherwise be listening to a caveat-laden episode.
