Pigliucci reviews Blackburn on realism

From which this wonderful quote:

There may be rhetoric about the socially constructed nature of Western science, but whenever it matters, there is no alternative. There are no specifically Hindu or Taoist designs for mobile phones, faxes or television. There are no satellites based on feminist alternatives to quantum theory. Even the great public sceptic about the value of science, Prince Charles, never flies a helicopter burning homeopathically diluted petrol, that is, water with only a memory of benzine molecules, maintained by a schedule derived from reading tea leaves, and navigated by a crystal ball.

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Hey, I have that book! And his Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. He does have a wonderfully pithy way of putting things. I particularly like this characterisation of the Church of England from a review of books by John Polkinghorne:

It confirms one's sense that the Church of England is a docile old Labrador, toothless and friendly, and nobody need take much notice of it. When schism erupts and heretics get things wrong, or when agnostics and atheists (such as myself) lock God out, chaps like Sir John give us a sherry and a biscuit on the lawn, rather than burning, stoning, and crucifying, as their ill-bred cousins love to do.

By Ian H Spedding FCD (not verified) on 28 May 2007 #permalink

That's brilliant, although now, I want to try and convince Prince Charles to try flying a homeopathicopter.

Blackburn is just a paragon of intellectually stimulating, but pithy and engaging, writing.