Sunday, March 10, 2019

Boyle's Second Law

Robert Boyle is often called 'the Father of Chemistry'. He discovered Boyle's Law, which we all know vaguely from school. His book, The Sceptical Chymist (1661), is generally thought of as the point at which Chemistry diverged properly from its dodgier sibling, Alchemy.

In fact, Boyle was devoted to alchemy, seeing it as a bridge between science and religion. Boyle was deeply religious and wrote many religious pamphlets. He did not see science and religion as antagonistic: on the contrary, he saw them as natural allies. He believed that the world around us was the most direct expression of God, and that to truly understand it was the nearest we would ever get to understanding its creator.

Atheism was growing in the circles Boyle frequented, but Boyle thought that pursuing knowledge would, in the end, prove that God existed.

Whether he turns out to be right is impossible to say for sure. I may be an atheist in practice because on balance that, to me, is what makes sense, but of course God is a possibility (as is Russell's teapot).

What I admire about Boyle is his honesty and integrity. And, in a way, his faith. He believed in God properly, which meant he was unafraid of considering the proof and the arguments. What kind of faith seeks to cover up counter-arguments, or limit exploration? A faith that is afraid of what it will find. A faith that isn't much of a faith at all.

This un-faith is by no means limited to religion. Any idea we hold very dear can become its focus. I lean towards degrowth socialism, because I think it is the best way to ensure the best living standards for everyone while living within the ecological limits of this planet. It is tempting to ignore the problems this throws up - how to ensure individual liberty within that framework, for example. It is tempting to ignore examples of capitalist mechanisms effecting sustainability. But my aim is not to have degrowth socialism, my aim is to have a world where everyone has decent living standards and we aren't wrecking the planet. My faith in degrowth socialism is not Boyle's faith in God - it's hardly a faith, really, more a hope. But it's only worth anything at all if I submit it to the same rigours as Boyle's faith.

So I'm proposing the recognition of Boyle's Second Law: We should only say we believe something, if we believe that argument and evidence will prove we are right.

No comments:

Post a Comment