Regular Monthly meeting
This month’s program has a decidedly philosophical bent to it. Our presenter is Kevin T. Kelley, Professor of Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University, Director of the Center for Formal Epistemology, and author of the book The logic of Reliable Inquiry , Oxford University Press, 1996. His topic is “Does Occam’s Razor Work By The Grace of God?”
Simplicity has played a central role in formulating scientific theories ever since Copernicus' arguments for a sun centered solar system at the beginning of the scientific revolution. Science’s preference for simple theories is often called Occam's Razor. But what justifies Occam's Razor? How could simplicity be a reliable indicator of the truth? The religious philosopher Robert Koons has even turned this scientific puzzle into an argument for the supernatural.
Dr. Kelly will present an alternative explanation, according to which Ockham's razor merely keeps one on the straightest possible path to the truth in the long run, where alternative methods do not. Can Dr. Kelly save naturalism? Come to the CFI – Pittsburgh monthly meeting to find out.
