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Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

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But the Platonic doctrine <strong>of</strong> the interweaving <strong>of</strong> Harmony with<br />

mathematical relations has been triumphantly vindicated. <strong>The</strong><br />

Aristotelian classifications based upon qualitative predicates have a very<br />

restricted application apart from the introduction <strong>of</strong> mathematical<br />

formulae. Indeed Aristotelian logic, by its neglect <strong>of</strong> mathematical<br />

notions, has done almost as much harm as good for the advancement <strong>of</strong><br />

science. We can never get away from the quotations: - How much, - In<br />

what proportions, - <strong>and</strong> In what pattern <strong>of</strong> arrangement with other<br />

things. <strong>The</strong> exact laws <strong>of</strong> chemical proportions make all the difference:<br />

CO will kill you, when CO 2 will only give you a headache. Also CO 2 is a<br />

necessary element for the dilution <strong>of</strong> oxygen in the atmosphere; but too<br />

much or too little is equally harmful. Arsenic deals out either health or<br />

death, according to its proportions amid a pattern <strong>of</strong> circumstances. Also<br />

when the health-giving proportion <strong>of</strong> CO 2 to free oxygen has been<br />

obtained, a re-arrangement <strong>of</strong> these proportional quantities <strong>of</strong> carbon<br />

<strong>and</strong> oxygen into carbon monoxide <strong>and</strong> free oxygen will provide a poisonous<br />

mixture. In Political Economy, the Law <strong>of</strong> Diminishing Returns points to<br />

the conditions for the maximum efficiency <strong>of</strong> a dose <strong>of</strong> capital. In fact,<br />

there is hardly a question to be asked which should not be fenced round<br />

with qualifications as how much, <strong>and</strong> as to what pattern <strong>of</strong> circumstances.<br />

Aristotelian logic, apart from the guardianship <strong>of</strong> mathematics, is the<br />

fertile matrix <strong>of</strong> fallacies. It deals with propositional forms only adapted

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