Religion and Science
1. The Method of Argument
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field of scientific discovery has been widened by the
increasing sophistication and rapid evolution of
modern technology. Therefore, holding any given
method of reasoning valid does not mean
necessarily that the particular method must surely
be right. And the possibility must always be kept in
mind that the conclusions arrived at may be wrong.
The validity of both criteria and conclusions are
inevitably open to the challenge of subsequent
discoveries.
Of the fourth method of reasoning, it can be said
that there is no direct link between hypothesis and
observation; it is solely inference which provides
the necessary connection. Then why should it be
taken for granted that our inference is necessarily
correct? In making inferences it is quite possible to
err, but this probability of error should not affect
the validity of the criterion in question. If it is
possible to doubt the validity of the criterion
because of a perceived error in inference, then on
the same grounds, other criteria will also be
exposed to doubt. Consider that it is on this that the
whole edifice of our modern science rests.
