Eduard Meyer
Though I myself am not a Kantian, by far my
favourite book on the subject of the philosophy of science is Dr. Gavin
Ardley’s Aquinas and Kant, in which Ardley gives to Kant the credit for
having uncovered the nature of modern theoretical science (or physics). In fact
I was so impressed with this book, and its importance, that I painstakingly
typed it up at:
The modern physicist apparently, quite unlike
the earlier scientists, does not seek to study nature as it really is, but
instead (and this is Kant) imposes his/her ‘a priori’ mental constructs upon
nature.
According to Ardley this is for utilitarian and
commercial purposes.
Now I believe that the same type of artificial
process has been applied by chronologist Eduard Meyer to ancient Egyptian
chronology, which then became the yardstick for the chronologies of other
ancient nations. With disastrous effect! (See e.g., Peter James’s Centuries of Darkness). I don’t know
whether Meyer, a German, was also a Kantian, but he – endeavouring to bring
some type of mathematical (astronomically-based) order to the highly complex
Egyptian chronology (30 dynasties) – imposed his pre-conceived system which,
unfortunately, has no compelling basis in reality. For a handy summary of this,
see my:
The Fall of the Sothic Theory:
Egyptian Chronology Revisited
And Kant himself, mistakingly thinking that this
‘a priori’ approach is how the human
mind actually works, went on to develop an epistemology, a pseudo ‘metaphysics’,
that - whilst it may be neat and convenient - is actually no more real than is Meyer’s
Sothic system.
