My story with HAPI (Philippines)

My story started with my passion to help people. I just left the first non religious society I founded in November 2013. I can't sleep, tossing on my bed and said to myself, I want to be happy. I concocted the word HAPI, thru research, and group solicitation. My first experience taught me well and therefore, it was easier for me to create another society. That was more than 10 years ago. Humanist Alliance Philippines International-HAPI has experienced peak and valleys through its life.

There were issues and people who want to steal HAPI. However, we're able to surmount all of that. I am always the target of scammers and dishonest people.

HAPI has numerous chapters and events galore. Everything you can find in our website: www.hapihumanist.org

HAPI has evolved into an international society from the get go, but more so in 2015 when we became an affiliate of many secular societies outside the Philippines where HAPI is based.

We are the only Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered non-theistic society in the Philippines with regular community outreach. We zero in on education, thus, I also created HAPI scholars who are now in charge of the website. All funds for the scholars come from my own pockets. Investing in people is a lot better than investing on material things. I used to have 14 scholars. Now I only have 11. They are brighter than I, being groomed as the next HAPI leaders.

Our vision is to create an inclusive society devoid of discrimination.  We value equally amongst all men. We propagate humanism through kindness and education.

By Marissa Torres Langseth, BS in Nursing (University of San Carlos, Philippines), Masters in Adult Health Nursing (Lehman College-CUNY), 

Founder and Emeritus Chairperson of HAPI (Humanist Alliance Philippines, International), and Founder and Founding Chairperson of Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society, the Creator of HAPI-SHADE (Secular Humanist Advocacy Development Education)

Go to Eupraxophia # 17

Review: Mahner, Martin (2022). Naturalismo. La metafísica de la ciencia

[Naturalism. The metaphysics of science. Translated from German by Francisco Mota]. Pamplona: Laetoli, 236 pages.

By Manuel A. Paz y Miño, Editor, Neo-Skepsis

Mahner holds a PhD in zoology from the Free University of Berlin and was a research fellow of Mario Bunge at McGill University in Canada, with whom he co-wrote Foundations of Biophilosophy (Springer, 1997) and to whom he posthumously dedicates his Naturalism (p. 9) published originally in German in 2018. 

The problems Mahner deals with in his book, as we shall quickly see, are part of the philosophy of science, specifically the metaphysics and ontology of science. In this way, he rationally demonstrates that in order to do science and scientifically explain reality or nature we do not need to postulate supernatural entities.

Already in the prologue the author clarifies the position that accuses naturalism of reductionism in trying to understand social phenomena when in reality it has more than one concept (p. 7).

He also clarifies very well that naturalism and materialism are not the same and that their antagonists are supernaturalism and idealism respectively. Precisely the central theme of his work is the link between science with naturalism and supranaturalism; he will defend naturalism as a presupposition of science (p. 8).

In the introduction or chapter 1, he tells us that, thanks to the progress of the natural sciences, since the Enlightenment, the conception of the world is naturalistic, that is, "the universe exists by itself, precedes our desire to know and nothing occurs in it that is anomalous...it is uncreated, real and nomothetic [it operates according to natural laws]" (p. 11).

The advance of naturalism is opposed by religions and idealistic philosophies (pp. 11-12) and being naturalism "a philosophical presupposition of science...[it] is an indispensable part of its presuppositions and fundamental rules of the game" that makes scientific knowledge possible (p. 13). Naturalism is, then, a metaphysics of the natural and social sciences (p. 14).

Each of the next 8 chapters raises a series of questions and ends with the main theses as a summary.

Among the main theses of chapter 2 are: that nothing can be said about the transnatural, since it is an empty category; and that something can be understood of supernatural entities by their derivation from the natural and their relatively anthropomorphic character (p. 42).

In those of ch. 3: "Empirical scientific methods, such as observation, measurement and experiment, presuppose various metaphysical assumptions, such as realism, the principle of nomotheticity, the principle "Nothing proceeds from nothing" and a principle of antecedence and causality." But supranaturalism denies or violates these metaphysical principles, with the exception of the postulate of realism (p. 63).

In ch. 4 author maintains as a thesis, among others, that, in order to have empirical proof of the supernatural, it must interact with the natural.  For that, it must partly possess, or be able to possess, natural properties; and that "[t]he empiricist claim that one can measure, independently of metaphysical assumptions, the plausibility of hypotheses, both natural and supernatural, with the help of Bayesian confirmation theory, by neutrally processing empirical evidence with it, ignores the fact that already the collection of admissible evidence presupposes naturalism" (p. 83).

In ch. 5 it is argued that supranaturalistic explanations would be demarcated to the supernatural by being intentional explanations that are only comprehensible if they anthropomorphically expound the explanatory entities.  "The transnatural does not possess any kind of explanatory force"; and supernatural explanations explain "everything" or do so falsely.  They do not serve as scientific explanations; "Supernatural explanations of a state of affairs s have hardly any more explanatory force than the statement "We do not know what caused s" (pp. 103-104)."

The summary of ch. 6 states, among other things, that what is believed to be empirical verification of the supernatural does not in fact prove to be supernatural, but paranatural; and the supernatural cannot be empirically deduced from the supposed lack of explanation in the normal and the natural.  The investigation of nature by natural means cannot go beyond its boundaries (pp. 133-134).

Ch. 7 says that despite the triumph of the real sciences proves metaphysical naturalism, it does not ground it, and that scientific methodology does not get rid of metaphysics by being explained or grounded by metaphysical naturalism. "Scientific methodology is not ontologically neutral with respect to naturalism or supranaturalism, because the latter entails a methodology of its own that is irreconcilable with scientific methodology" (p. 153).

Chap. 8 enunciates that "[t]he relation of naturalism and science is not, contrary to the anti-naturalistic critique, a regrettable self-limitation of science, but the only possibility of objective knowledge," "[f]or the demarcation of science and pseudoclenchism, it is legitimate to use the question of compatibility with metaphysical naturalism as one of several demarcation criteria," and that "naturalism, as a metaphysics of presuppositions, excludes a strong epistemological naturalism, according to which science is not subject to any kind of philosophical presuppositions." That is, metaphysical naturalists cannot be, at the same time, strong epistemological naturalists (p. 174).

Ch. 9 argues that, if religion and science aim to express something true about the world, then they are in contradiction and that scientists who appreciate a coherent representation of the world cannot accept, at the same time, two worldviews with incompatible metaphysics and methodologies (pp. 183-184).

Ch. 10 deals with the conclusion of the book, in short: "Metaphysical naturalism is a necessary condition of the real sciences" (p. 185).

Then come all the notes (pp. 189-214) contained in all the chapters of the book and the abundant bibliography used (pp. 215-228).

In short, it is a very complete work, very useful for those who want to know more about the metaphysical presuppositions of science and scientific research, as well as the demarcation between science and pseudoscience and between the natural and the supernatural and the incompatibility of the latter with a naturalistic and empirical conception of reality.

Huanta, November 1st, 2023.

(Published originally in Spanish in the Peruvian Journal of Applied Philosophy # 24. Translated into English by Deepl.com and reviewed by author).

GO TO NEO-SKEPSIS # 16: 

SKEPTICISM IN THE WORLD (II)

 

FATE AND DESTINY OF THE RATIONAL SKEPTIC ASSOCIATION OF VENEZUELA

(Photo from Instagram)

Jesús Omar Guevara Rivas (1990-2021), 

Graduate of political scientist career and Lecturer, School of Psychology, 

Universidad Bicentenaria de Aragua, Venezuela.

It is also known as AREV, for its Spanish acronym. The description on its web page reads as follows (1):

The Rational and Skeptical Association of Venezuela (AREV) is an independent, non-profit organization, made up of open-minded people who have come together with the aim of spreading skepticism and rational thinking, and to put under scientific scrutiny the mystical and pseudo-scientific claims with which we are bombarded every day. The association promotes science and critical thinking as fundamental ways to improve the quality of life of citizens, providing them with the indispensable skeptical tools to confront the gratuitous and extravagant claims of superstition hucksters, paranormal hucksters and mystery mongers, who speculate on the ignorance of the public to obtain large dividends by offering panaceas and quick (and false) answers to human illness, misery and uncertainty.

AREV is virtually the only nationwide association dedicated to the dissemination of critical and skeptical thinking, with a special emphasis on fighting pseudosciences, especially pseudo-medicine and psychoanalysis; and, with the arrival of the "New Atheism" movement at the end of the 2000s, it has also mentioned the perverse consequences of religious thought, which at the time gave impetus to a certain growth of the Venezuelan skeptical movement, although in a rather unstructured way and without much organization.

The most finished product of the AREV is the magazine Lúcido [Lucid] (2), published until 2010 in digital format. Its editorial committee, in its last edition, was formed by Jorge Araica, Ricardo Babarro, Guido Nuñez, Álvaro Osorio, Jesús Pineda, Sami Rozenbaum and Domingo Subero, being Sami Rozenbaum the team coordinator. All of them AREV members.

Cover of the last edition (No. 29) of the digital magazine Lúcido, which was published for 9 years.

At the time of writing these lines, we are fortunate to have the testimony of Guido Núñez, now living in the USA, He tells us how the Rational Association had quite humble and even somewhat ironic beginnings, in which his personal experience of getting rid (by the skin of his teeth) of religious fanaticism played a relevant role, as well as the humorous touch that has always been associated with skeptics and naturalists since Democritus: "I started looking on the Internet and entered several pages that not only made the matter clear to me but also freed me from Christianity". Guido specifies: "I was about to become a Jehovah's Witness, but the evolution thing didn't fit me".

The search for more information driven by curiosity in the incipient internet of the year 2000 would give the answer. One of them was Javier Garrido's website (hosted by Geocities) Paraciencias al día (3).

[The page] had excellent articles.... And I start writing. I get in touch with Javier and we start sending letters. February 2001 arrived and I bought El mundo y sus demonios as a birthday present (...) in public transport I heard warnings of witches and decided to visit a witch saying she was a member of the AREV.

Guido tells us.

[The AREV thing] was a joke to see how she would react. Then I told Javier and he said: "What the fuck are we waiting for? (...) Then we got Sami because I started talking to people from CSICOP, and they told me that Sami was [in that group].

After successive contacts and the impulse of its first members, the Skeptical Rational Association was formed. Lúcido was born as its informative organ in December 2001, and in its first edition in that month it rightly states that

...[the AREV] was born in February 2001, in a very characteristic way for our time, as a mailing list in which we have met professionals and students, with an average age around 30 years old. We live in different cities, so many of us do not yet know each other personally, but we have exchanged abundant information and ideas to the point that we form a true virtual community; as befits our definition of skeptics, controversies are not uncommon.

All thanks to happy coincidences and the always valuable exchange of ideas facilitated by technology.

In 2004, Lúcido won the "Arístides Bastidas" Municipal Prize for Scientific Journalism, mention "opinion", awarded by the Council of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas. Its members were also noted at the time in defense of rational thought, such as Sami Rozenbaum at the IV World Skeptical Congress of CSICOP in Los Angeles (2002), or Guido Núñez himself as a participant in the First Iberoamerican Conference on Critical Thinking in 2005. AREV also had its radio program, Science and Legend, which was rebroadcast via web (4).

From left to right: Alejandro Borgo (Argentina), Paul Kurtz (USA), Sami Rozenbaum (Venezuela), 

and Manuel A. Paz y Miño (Peru) at the Fourth World Skeptics Conference (June 2002) in Burbank, California.

Open society and skepticism (or lack thereof) 

For better or worse, rather for worse, contemporary Venezuela offers additional difficulties for the development of any intellectual movement, and skepticism is no exception.

While the Association is not formally dissolved, it has not ceased to be a victim of the national situation that has driven the vast majority of Venezuela's citizens to survive and take care of more basic things like getting food and medicine. The urgency of daily life displaces little by little, and in the beginning almost without noticing it, the higher activities or those that would require more attention. Not to mention emigration, which has prevented several of its members from meeting more often.

"Politics killed everything," Guido tells us. And no, it's not necessarily about conflicts among its members for ideological reasons. It is politics that made it impossible to live normally in the country; first because it monopolized all public opinion, because of the merciless attack on democratic institutions throughout the 2000s; and then, because of the consequences of the subsequent economic crisis.

If we are talking about applying rational thinking, Venezuela today is plagued by irrationality in the form of public policies, and it freely reigns without restraint of any kind. In such a harsh environment, where universities struggle to survive without supplies, budgets, students, professors; where radio and television censorship is a harsh reality; where unreason takes human lives without any justification; and where, paraphrasing Carl Sagan, the shadows of the past grow stronger and stronger and reason is left alone like a small candle. It is in those places and moments when a necessary reflection is born: democracy and reason die in the dark.

Those who cherish their critical sense must always be alert to any irrational threat, even in the stillness and prosperity of what has been achieved, for the snake oil salesmen and agitators of hatred, anger and fear never rest. Whenever possible, the flame of science and reason, however feeble, must be lit.

Because the world where our demons rule is not a good place. And it never will be.

Notes

(1) https://arev.wordpress.com

(2) Note of the Editor:All of Lúcido's issues are on the web: https://arev.wordpress.com/revista-lucido/

(3) http://www.geocities.com/jgb64/Pseudo.htm -visible at Wayback Machine-.

(4) www.tecnologiahechapalabra.com

(Originally published in El Escéptico [The Skeptic] No. 52, Summer 2019, pp. 19 and 20. Digital version: https://www.escepticos.es/repositorio/elesceptico/articulos_pdf/ee_52/ee_52_sino_y_destino_de_la_asociacion_racional_esceptica_de_venezuela.pdf.. Translated from Spanish by Deepl.com)

GO TO NEO-SKEPSIS # 16: SKEPTICISM IN THE WORLD (II)