Resistance

GERMAR RUDOLF, RESISTANCE IS OBLIGATORYtion: can we determine whether Plato’s works are scientific in nature,even though we know nothing about the author? Answer: Yes we can,since the features of his work are determined by investigating the work,not the author.Ex. 2: Nicolaus Copernicus. From his foreword emerges a derogatoryattitude toward the Catholic Church, which contributed to his bookbeing censored. Question: Do Copernicus’ polemics harm the scientificnature of his work? Answer: No, because first of all his polemics can bejustified, and second because the polemics have no effect on the workitself and on the arguments. Arguments are what count, not political orreligious suspicions.Ex.3: A hypothetical author writes a scientific book under a pseudonym.The author remains unknown. Question: Can we determinewhether the book is scientific in nature? Answer: Yes we can, becausethe question has nothing to do with the author.Ex. 4: What would you do in order to determine the characteristicsof a Porsche 911? a) The Rudolf Method: buy and test drive a Porsche;or b) the method of Judge Meinerzhagen and the prosecution: Put WendelinWiedeking, the chairman of the Porsche Corporation, on the psychiatrist’scouch and question him about psycho-social disruptions andpolitico-religious anomalies? Or one could also argue in the style ofJudge Meinerzhagen that, because Wendelin Wiedeking is corpulent, heis incapable of constructing sports cars?The logic used by the Judge Meinerzhagen is just as conclusive asthe sayingAt night it is colder than outside.Entire categories of logic are being confused here. Of course there issome connection between nighttime, colder, and outside; but it mostcertainly doesn’t work the way I just expressed it. In the same way onecannot transpose the – often only insinuated – characteristics of an authorlinearly onto his works.SummaryWhat Is Science? There are no (final) judgments, but rather always only more or lessreliable (preliminary) pre-judgments.90