12 Comments

This is a very clear explanation of the philosophical roots of the current attacks on science.

TRUTH IS TRUTH IS TRUTH! We should fight for it.

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The acknowledgments in my PhD dissertation began with a quote from William Blake, "Gratitude is heaven itself." There is a relationship between gratitude and joy. I see little to no joy in today's SJI graduate students when it comes to doing science. You wrote, "These statements reflect no gratitude to the men who have contributed so much to science, technology and medicine, and thus to human flourishing (men such as Semmelweis, Pasteur, Koch or Einstein)." There is no gratitude at all. Gratitude is dead! The SJI statements reflect a killing of joy that comes from devoting one's life to the search for objective truth...and a recognition of the responsibility that we have to the search for truth for all those scientists that had to fight for truth against orthodoxy. There is no way in the world that someone who knows about Semmelweis can see him as a white male of privilege. I teach about Semmelweis and give my students Vonnegut's (who was a chemistry major at Cornell) graduation speech where he says "Semmelweis is my hero." Thanks for the essay and thanks for bringing up Semmelweis. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/28/lifetimes/vonnegut-commencement.html

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Thank you for your comment which is nicely complementing my article. Yes, gratitude is dead and ideologues are trying to take over the whole science/medicine enterprise. If you speak and understand french, you could listen to a series of podcasts about Semmelweis where I collaborated with the public radio "France Culture". Here it is: https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/grande-traversee-docteur-semmelweis/3-la-decouverte-5666456

and an interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEl9ogEllvE

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Wow, this is great, Andreas. I expect to return to this regularly.

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check out, share & bookmark this extremely informative website: donoharmmedicine.org

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Thank you for this brave new scholarship on a trend that if left unchecked could portend the next dark age. Your analysis offers a framework by which scientists can evaluate the objectivity of programs to counter and resist the didactic emotional appeals and threats of the ideologues. It’s also reassuring that you appear to be in good company as reflected in some of your sources. Let’s hope this is a sign that the scientific method itself will be its own savior.

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Thank you for your valuable comment. For your information. There is a major article which will be published in April signed by a number of important scientists on this topic.

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check out, share & bookmark this extremely informative website: donoharmmedicine.org

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Excellent job Andreas! If there is a place where truth and merit matter is medicine and science

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Even using the term "Truth 2.0" gives that bilge credibility it does not deserve.

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