19 APR 2013 by ideonexus

 The Death of Socrates

The burning of the Pythagorean school had already signalized the war, not less ancient, not less eager, of the oppressors of mankind against philosophy. The one and the other will continue to be waged as long as there shall exist priests or kings upon the earth; and these wars will occupy a conspicuous place in the picture that we have still to delineate. Priests saw with grief the appearance of men, who, cultivating the powers of reason, ascending to first principles, could not but discover...
Folksonomies: history philosophy
Folksonomies: history philosophy
  1  notes

Retaliation from the priesthood.

21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus

 Superstition is Based on Personal Experience

Almost every major systematic error which has deluded men for thousands of years relied on practical experience. Horoscopes, incantations, oracles, magic, witchcraft, the cures of witch doctors and of medical practitioners before the advent of modern medicine, were all firmly established through the centuries in the eyes of the public by their supposed practical successes. The scientific method was devised precisely for the purpose of elucidating the nature of things under more carefully cont...
  1  notes

Astrology and other pseudosciences are believed because they appear to work in the real world, it is up to experiment to disprove them.