The
Rational Argumentator
A Rational Cosmology:
Edition II
Contemporary science
is prevented from further progress by the fallacy of
empiricism-positivism, the idea that no knowledge is certain beyond
refutation and that every claim is contingent on highly narrow,
particular, and expensive experiments. This treatise, however, provides
a thorough refutation of prevalent empiricist-positivist fallacies,
both in content and in method. It shatters some of the erroneous
philosophical interpretations of theories such as Relativity and
Quantum Mechanics. Moreover, it refutes the ex nihilo origin of the universe -- including its manifestation in popular views of the Big
Bang and Big Crunch -- the particle/wave view of light, and
a host of other fallacious ideas, using the proper,
axiomatic-deductive methodology of identifying
those theories' conceptual flaws and internal
contradictions.
As constructive alternatives to these fallacies, A Rational Cosmology presents objective, absolute, rationally grounded views of terms such as universe, matter, volume, space, time, motion, sound, light, forces, fields, and even the higher-order concepts of life, consciousness, and volition. The result is a system verified by ubiquitous observation and common sense, the underpinnings of objective science which demonstrate a knowable, fathomable reality and set the stage for unfettered progress, confidence in reason, and full-scale logical investigation of just about everything existence has to offer.
Edition II of A Rational Cosmology has been amplified with six additional chapters, each of which has been divided into smaller essays focusing on the main issues to consider in developing a rational view of the basic phenomena of existence. There is, furthermore, an appendix which may be supplemented with time, as well as a list of related essays which draw on A Rational Cosmology for their insights.
Original Chapters
Chapter I
The Axiomatic, Ubiquitous, and Commonsense
Essay I: The Errors of Empiricism-Positivism
Essay II: The Axioms of Existence, Identity, and Consciousness
Essay III: The Natures and Tasks of Ontology and Cosmology
Essay IV: The Distinction Between Physics and Cosmology
Chapter II
The Universe
Essay V: What the Universe is and is Not
Essay VI: The Universe Cannot Be Created
Essay VII: A Refutation of Big Bang Theory
Essay VIII: The Universe Cannot Be Destroyed
Essay IX: The Requirements for Homogeneous Entities
Essay X: The Impossibility of the Universe Having a Shape, Boundary, or Edge
Chapter III
Space
Essay XI: Why There is No Such Thing as Space
Essay XII: Space-as-Relationship
Essay XIII: The Ubiquitous Quality of Matter
Essay XIV: The Ubiquitous Qualities of Volume, Length, Width, and Height
Essay XVII: Euclidean Planes and Three-Dimensional Constructs
Chapter IV
Change and Time
Essay XVIII: The Existence of Change and the Necessity of Time
Essay XXI: The Necessity and Nature of a Time Scale
Essay XXII: Time as an Absolute Quality
Essay XXIII: Conceptual Flaws in the Theory of Relativity
Essay XXIV: The Distinction Between Aging and Senescence
Essay XXV: Why Time Cannot Have a Beginning or End
Essay XXVI: The Impossibility of First and Last Entities
Essay XXVII: The Impossibility of a Universe Without Time
Essay XXVIII: The Independence of a Uniform Time Scale from Physical Phenomena
Essay XXIX: The Proportionality Requirement for Time Scales
Chapter V
Motion
Essay XXX: The Nature of Motion
Essay XXXI: Resolutions to Several Questions Regarding Motion
Essay XXXII: Continuous and Intermittent Motion
Essay XXXIII: The Calculus as a Model for Continuous Motion
Essay XXXIV: The Role of Limits in Describing Motion
Essay XXXV: Instantaneous Velocities as a Means for Describing Motion
Essay XXXVI: Differences in Paths of Motion-
Essay XXXVII: Explanations of Special Circumstances Regarding Motion
Essay XXXVIII: The Accuracy of Calculus in Describing Motion
Chapter VI
Waves
Essay XXXIX: Waves as Ontological Relationships
Essay XL: A Refutation of the Particle-Wave Duality of Entities
Essay XLI: Sound as an Objective Relationship
Chapter VII
Light
Essay XLII: The Dangers of the Particle-Wave View of Light
Essay XLIII: Why Light is Neither a Particle Nor a Wave
Essay XLIV: The Model of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Essay XLV: Light as a Direct Relationship Between the Source and the Target
Essay XLVI: The Compatibility of Observations About Light With the View of Light as a Relationship
Essay XLVII: The Transmission of Light
Essay XLVIII: Light's Distance-Dependent Rate of Relationship
Essay XLIX: Measuring Light's Transmission
Essay L: Why Light's Transmission Does Not Determine the Motion of Entities
Essay LI: Why There is No Inherent Limit to Motion in the Universe
Essay LII: The Dangers of a Universal Speed Limit
Essay LIII: Color as a Property Intrinsic to Entities
Chapter VIII
Forces
Essay LIV: The Nature of Forces
Essay LV: How Forces Originate
Essay LVI: Why There is No Prime Mover
Essay LVII: The Model of Force Fields
Essay LVIII: Why Force Fields are Abstractions Only
Essay LIX: The Impossibility of Non-Local Effects
Essay LX: Contradictions in Considering Force Fields as Things
Essay LXI: The Impossibility of Infinite Force Exertions
Essay LXII: The Non-Existence of Gravitons or Other "Force Particles"
Chapter IX
Mistakes Concerning Infinity
Essay LXIII: Infinity and Existence
Essay LXIV: The Possibility of Eternal Existence
Essay LXV: The Impossibility of Singularities with Infinite Density
Essay LXVI: Why the Universe Has No Finite Age nor Any Age Whatsoever
Essay LXVII: Why Matter Cannot Be Infinitely Divisible
Essay LXVIII: Why Space and Time are Neither Infinite nor Finite
Chapter X
On the Nature and Origins of Life
Essay LXIX: The Possibility of Life's Origins from Non-Life
Essay LXX: An Evolutionary Explanation for the Origins of Life
Chapter XI
The Physicalist View of Life, Consciousness, and
Volition
Essay LXXI: Complex Self-Sustaining Physical Systems
Essay LXXII: Emergent Properties as an Explanation for Life, Consciousness, and Volition
Essay LXXIII: The Rejection of the Cartesian Dualist Position Regarding the Human Mind
Essay LXXIV: Life as a Purely Physical Process
Essay LXXV: How Life Follows the Laws of Physics
Essay LXXVI: The Consistency of Life's Continuity with Its Physical Nature
Essay LXXVII: The Consistency of Life's Unity and Subjective Perception with Its Physical Nature
Essay LXXVIII: The Importance of the Physicalist Worldview to Human Progress
Chapter XII
The Objectivity of Consciousness
Essay LXXIX: Can We Observe Others' Consciousness?
Essay LXXX: Perceptual Similarity Among Healthy Individuals
Essay LXXXI: The Possibility of Knowing Other Organisms' Consciousness
Essay LXXXII: The Objectivity of Pain and the Nature of Perception
Essay LXXXIII: The Simultaneity of Conscious Processes
Essay LXXXIV: Why Physicalism is Not Mysticism
Chapter XIII
The Implications of Rational Cosmology
Essay LXXXV: Toward a Return to the Enlightenment
Views of Science
Essay LXXXVI: Contemporary Science's Revolt against Reason and the Enlightenment
Essay LXXXVII: The Dangers of Scientific Orthodoxy
Essay LXXXVIII: Why Predictive Power Does Not Imply Correctness in a Scientific Theory
Essay LXXXIX: The Dangers of Faith in Scientific Experts
Essay XC: The Possibility of Eternal Progress-
Added Chapters
Chapter XIV
Contemporary Scientists' Faulty Definitions of Matter
Essay XCI: Definitions of Matter: Rational Versus Post-Classical
Essay XCII: Errors in the Post-Classical Definition of Matter
Essay XCIII: The Superiority of the Rational Definition of Matter Over the Prevailing Definition
Chapter XV
Light is Not a Particle
Essay XCIV: Why Experiments Cannot Prove That Light is a Particle
Essay XCV: Ubiquitous Observations Refuting the View of Light as a Particle
Essay XCVI:
Observations of Light's Lack of Mass and Volume
Essay XCVII: Why Spin is Not the Defining
Characteristic of Particles
Essay XCVIII: The Possibility of Quantifying Light and Other Relationships
Essay XCIX: The Danger in Reifying Analogies
Chapter XVI
Light is Not a Wave
Essay C: Contradictions in the View of Light as a Wave
Essay CI: Why Light Cannot Exhibit Oscillations of Electromagnetic Properties
Essay CIII: Light Results in Illumination, Not Acceleration
Essay CIV: Radio Signals are Not Waves
Chapter XVII
Rational Cosmology and Lasers
Essay CV: The Structure of the Laser Device
Essay CVI: Explaining Laser Light Without the Particle-Wave Duality
Essay CVII: An Explanation for the Perceived Concentrated Beam of Laser Light
Chapter XVIII
Polarization of Light Without the Wave Model
Essay CVIII: The Need to Explain Polarization of Light Without Presupposing the Wave Model
Essay CIX: An Explanation for the Operation of Polaroid Filters
Essay CX: An Explanation for Polarization of Light by Reflection Off Non-Metallic Surfaces
Chapter XIX
Transmission Without Travel: The Behavior of Light
Essay CXI: A Refutation of the Universality of Matter Transfer Fallacy
Essay CXII: Why Illumination Does Not Require the Transfer of Particles
Essay CXIII: How Light is Transmitted Without Traveling
Essay CXV: The Impossibility of Seeing No Longer Existing Light Sources
Appendix
Essay CXVI: Issues Regarding Different Definitions of the Universe
Essay CXVII: The Possibility of an Absolute Definition of Motion
Related Essays
Entities and Spatial Continuity
Five Arguments for the Non-Existence of God
Praxeology and Certainty of Knowledge
Progress for Physics: New Model of Loop Quantum Cosmology Rejects Singularities and Affirms Insights in A Rational CosmologyHorava Gravity Theory Overturns Einsteinian Spacetime and Vindicates Aspects of A Rational Cosmology
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