2006-02-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

[to return to the main document, click here, http://standtoyourduty.blogspot.com/]

Appendix C:

-there is NO 'vital-force-spirit' [VFS] / 'purposeful life spirit' in science,

or supported by legitimate science (vitalism does not survive scientific scrutiny).

.[some essential quotations (then master menu sub-page links)]

.[a physicist]

“For my own part, I have been struck by the fact that nearly all the pseudoscientific systems to be examined in this essay are based philosophically on vitalism: that is, the idea that living beings, and especially human beings, are endowed with some special quality (life energy, elan vital, prana, qi) that transcends the ordinary laws of physics. Mainstream science has rejected vitalism since at least the 1930s, for a plethora of good reasons that have only become stronger with time (see e.g. Mayr 1982). But these good reasons are understood by only a tiny fraction of the populace, even in the industrialized countries where science is supposedly held in high esteem. Moreover -- and perhaps much more importantly -- the anti-vitalism characteristic of modern science is deeply unsettling emotionally to most (perhaps all) people, even to those who are not conventionally religious [p.347…for instance, and essential to naturopathy] homeopathy was developed by […] Hahnemann […] and its basic principles remain largely unchanged to this day, despite radical advances in our understanding of physics, chemistry, and biology that thoroughly undermine its alleged scientific basis. Its central tenets are the so-called law of similars, or ‘like cures like’ […] the so-called law of potentizations […] and a vitalist theory of biology, which holds that living beings are endowed with some special quality (‘vital force’) that transcends the ordinary laws of physics […these] homeopathic remedies […] are pure water and starch; the alleged ‘active ingredient’ is so highly diluted that in most cases not a single molecule remains in the final product [p.348]."

-- Alan Sokal, physicist.

[in “Pseudoscience and Postmodernism: Antagonists or Fellow Travelers?” within “Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public”( 2006) {editor Fagan, G.G. (? ?)}(ISBN 0415305934)].

[defunct](for a youtube.com slideshow of this excerpt, click here,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmWKV2Cr1d8)

.[a physicist]

"Much of alternative medicine is based on claims that violate well established scientific principles [...the claimants] should be asked to meet the same criteria as anyone else who claims a phenomenon whose existence goes beyond established science. They have an enormous burden of proof, and it is time that society laid it on their thin shoulders [no more epistemic charity...e.g.] vitalism and bioenergetic fields remain mere speculation - speculation that is not even needed to explain what is happening [nonparsimony: explanations 'not ascribed by the evidence']. If bioenergetic fields exist, then some two hundred years of physics, chemistry, and biology has to be re-evaluated."

-- Victor Stenger, physicist.

[in the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, vol.3 no.1 1999; (click here, http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Medicine/Biofield.html; archived here, http://web.archive.org/web/20060209001920/http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Medicine/Biofield.html)].

.[a medical scientist]

"Vitalism and finalism no longer are accepted by the vast majority of scientists."

-- Christian de Duve, MD PhD. {1974 Nobel Laureate 'Physiology or Medicine'}.

[{finalism as in 'cosmic' teleology / teleology-finalism / puposefulness as opposed to causality, vitalism's handmaiden; historically, Aristotle(antiquated teleology; form follows function; vitalistic / entelechy-driven purposefulness; not to be confused with the mechanistic though nonreductionistic teleonomy of Mayr; function based upon historical evolutionary development, properties based upon component interaction and summation) versus Lucretius(current philosophical naturalism and the naturalistic view of modern science due to its FINDINGS; function follows form; accidentalism & causality)}; in "Many Worlds: The New Universe, Extraterrestrial Life, and the Theological Implications"(2000)(ISBN 1890151424)][his Wikipedia entry, click here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_de_Duve].

.[an astronomer]

Remember: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence [p.031]."

-- Carl Sagan, astronomer.

[as quoted in "Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction"(2001) (ISBN 030907309X)];

.[a national science educator organization, 2004]

"[NABT, the National Association of Biology Teachers] has a special obligation to promote this integrity in life science education. The data, concepts and theories of science presented to students must meet the accepted standards of the discipline. To this end, NABT will not support efforts to include in the science classroom materials or theories derived outside of the scientific processes. Nonscientific notions such as geocentrism, flat earth, creationism, young earth, astrology, psychic healing and vitalistic theory, therefore, cannot be legitimately taught, promoted or condoned as science in the classroom."

-- the National Association of Biology Teachers, biologists.

[archived here,

http://web.archive.org/web/20040609032255/http://www.standardscience.com/nabt_integrity.html]

01. schools:

(click here, http://novfsinscience-schools.blogspot.com/)

02. national org.s:

(click here, http://novfsinscience-natorgs.blogspot.com/)

03. state org.s:

(click here, http://novfsinscience-stateorgs.blogspot.com/)

04. journals:

(click here, http://novfsinscience-journals.blogspot.com/)

05. practitioners: