In this episode, Megan and Frank examine astrology. What is astrology, and why do people practice it? What are the strongest objections to astrology? Should astrology count as a science? If not, why not? What can the case of astrology teach us about the role of science in a democratic society? And why does the ancient practice of reading the stars prompt us to ponder the deepest aspects of human experience? Thinkers discussed include: Aristotle, Cicero, Ptolemy, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, Paul Feyerabend, Carl Sagan, Ian James Kidd, and Massimo Pigliucci.

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Hosts' Websites:

Megan J Fritts (google.com)

Frank J. Cabrera (google.com)

Email: [email protected]

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Bibliography:

Philosophy of Science and the Occult | State University of New York Press (first section is an invaluable resource, containing the 1975 manifesto, Feyerabend's critique, and articles summarizing statistical studies disconfirming astrology)

Cabrera - Evidence and explanation in Cicero's On Divination

LacusCurtius • Ptolemy — Tetrabiblos

LacusCurtius • Cicero — De Divinatione: Book I

A double-blind test of astrology | Nature

Readings in the Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Postmodernism (See for short selections from Popper, Kuhn, and Lakatos)

Ian James Kidd - Why did Feyerabend Defend Astrology? Integrity, Virtue, and the Authority of Science (An excellent paper that very much informed our discussion of the science & society question)

M. Pigliucci  - Was Feyerabend Right in Defending Astrology? A Commentary on Kidd

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Cover Artwork by Logan Fritts

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Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/neon-signs

License code: YYRPW29K1IDMU76F