Summary
Percy Williams Bridgman's "Reflections of a Physicist (1950)" argues that scientific knowledge necessitates a complementary relationship between empirical observation of particulars and the intellectual apprehension of laws or causes. While empirical data alone yields strong probability, absolute validity requires an intellectual element for correlating these data. Conversely, purely a priori knowledge, like formal logic, is form without content. Bridgman criticizes the rigid "Intuitionalist" (a priori) versus "Empiricist" (a posteriori) categorization of philosophers, asserting that they often debate at cross-purposes, overlooking the inherent intellectual component within empirical knowledge and the need for concrete content in a priori reasoning.
The book also traces the scientific refutation of abiogenesis, the theory that life can arise from non-living matter. Through experiments by figures like Redi and Pasteur, it was demonstrated, first for macroscopic organisms and then for microscopic ones like bacteria, that "omne vivum e vivo" (every living thing comes from a pre-existing living thing). The process of achieving proper sterilization to disprove abiogenesis, especially concerning heat-resistant bacterial spores, highlights the challenges in definitively proving this principle.
Key concepts
- A priori — Judgments regarded as independent of experience and belonging to the essence of thought.
- A posteriori — Judgments derived from particular observations.
- Abiogenesis — The theory that life can arise from non-living matter.
- Omne vivum e vivo — The principle that every living thing comes from a pre-existing living thing.
- Sterilization — The process of eliminating or killing all forms of microbial life, including spores.
From the book
For other versions of this work, see Encyclopædia Britannica . ← 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911 ) Title page → related portals : Reference Works Shortcut : EB11 or EB1911 Notes on reading the Wikisource edition . A special disclaimer for this project . Collaboration page for contributors . 12543 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 Table of contents This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1931. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works . Public domain Public domain false false← Alabama 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 "Alabama" Arbitration by Montague Hughes Crackanthorpe Alabama River → See also Alabama Claims on…
He is commonly known as Rab.← Abbadie, Jakob 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 'Abbahu Abba Mari → See also Abbahu on Wikipedia ; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer . 12925 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 — 'Abbahu ʼABBAHU, the name of a Palestinian ʼamora ( q.v. ) who flourished c . 279–320. ʼAbbahu encouraged the study of Greek by Jews. He was famous as a collector of traditional lore, and is very often cited in the Talmud.
He was author of Quaestiones ( Sheiltoth ), a collection of homilies (at once learned and popular) on Jewish law and ethics. This is recorded to have been the first work written by a Jewish scholar after the completion of the Talmud.← Alphabet 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 'Al-phasi, Isaac Alphege, Saint → See also Isaac Alfasi on Wikipedia ; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer . 1202415 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 — 'Al-phasi, Isaac ’AL-PHASI, ISAAC (1013–1103), Jewish rabbi and codifier, known as Riph , was born near Fez in 1013 and died at Lucena in 1103. ’Al-Phasi means the “man of Fez” (medieval Jews were often named after their birthplaces). He was forced to leave Fez when an old man of 75, being accused on some unknown political charge. He then…
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