Psychiatry as “Science” Controversy Grows

Freud couch.jpg


Slowly it is dawning on people that the borders of “science” are not hard; they bleed into other fields and cannot be construed as fixed, in any event. The increasing debate over neo-Darwinism is an example. So, too, is psychiatry. An article on psychiatry at ENV is attracting attention. And today we have David Brooks in his column explaining the reality that this very valuable field of knowledge is perhaps “semi-science,” in contrast, for example, to cosmology. Actually, cosmology itself is a field in the throes of definitional quarrels, since multiverse theory is largely a parable.
Maybe we should compare psychiatry instead to mathematics, the hardest science there is. Except, of course, the more mathematicians cogitate, the more even they conjecture and conjure.
At this point, we might like to point out the importance of academic freedom: let scientists debate, and let the people at groups like Freedom from Religion Foundation keep their mitts off professors like Dr. Eric Hedin of Ball State University in Indiana. Dr. Hedin is a physicist/astronomer who also teaches a course on the interface of science and religion. The atheist lobby is out to quash the course because Hedin teaches about intelligent design. If he were an atheist or an ID critic, you can be sure he would not be criticized. As is, the FFRF and Dr. Jerry Coyne, crusader atheist from the University of Chicago and champion of unquestionable Darwinian theory, want the man’s job. Will Hedin be denied tenure because of the row?
Do you suppose there is a psychiatric term for it? How about Academic Suppression Anxiety Disorder?
People who want science to be honest and open are signing a petition for Dr. Hedin.
Image: Freud’s couch, roberthuffstutter/Flickr.

Bruce Chapman

Cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Discovery Institute
Bruce Chapman has had a long career in American politics and public policy at the city, state, national, and international levels. Elected to the Seattle City Council and as Washington State's Secretary of State, he also served in several leadership posts in the Reagan administration, including ambassador. In 1991, he founded the public policy think tank Discovery Institute, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board and director of the Chapman Center on Citizen Leadership.

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