A Fissure is a Very Superficial Thing

Contrasting Oppositions in Schelling and Whitehead

Abstract

The natural sciences influence our conception of what the world is. In the most unassuming accounts, it is argued that the sciences present us with objective descriptions of our internal and external environment. Another view of the role of science, decidedly more imposing in its scope, is that the sciences reveal reality itself, even beyond the mere appearances perceived by our natural senses. Science has become a paradoxical human activity that not only goes beyond everyday human sensory capabilities and commonsense views, but also radically transforms the environment from which it emerged, all in its endeavor to unearth the truth of what is really real.