The first part deals with philosophies that have had a significant
input, positive or negative, on the search for truth; it suggests that
scientific and technological are either stimulated or smothered by a
philosophical matrix; and it outlines two ontological doctrines believed
to have nurtured research in modern times: systemism (not to be mistaken
for holism) and materialism (as an extension of physicalism). The second
part discusses a few practical problems that are being actively
discussed in the literature, from climatology and information science to
economics and legal philosophy. This discussion is informed by the
general principles analyzed in the first part of the book. Some of the
conclusions are that standard economic theory is just as inadequate as
Marxism; that law and order are weak without justice; and that the
central equation of normative climatology is a tautology-which of course
does not put climate change in doubt. The third and final part of the
book tackles a set of key concepts, such as those of indicator, energy,
and existence, that have been either taken for granted or neglected. For
instance, it is argued that there is at least one existence predicate,
and that it is unrelated to the so-called existential quantifier; that
high level hypotheses cannot be put to the test unless conjoined with
indicator hypotheses; and that induction cannot produce high level
hypotheses because empirical data do not contain any transempirical
concepts. Realism, materialism, and systemism are thus refined and
vindicated.