Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
We can't say the moon's orbits have a purpose, but my studying it has a purpose.
Two things are connected, and the connection disappears if you eliminate the mind
- purpose and error. Nature doesn't make errors - people make errors. When you
say 2+2=5, that seems perfect for natural science. An electron in your brain jumps
and you write 5 instead of 4. It's an error. It's because of mankind that errors exist,
because of man's activities, because their actions have a programme. My wife is
European. She washes the dishes. I don't break them. She breaks them - because
she is the one who washes them. Error and purpose are connected. Error is entirely
due to purpose. The purpose is defeated.
Antonio Valero: E
ciency is a measure of what you want, of what your purpose
is.
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen: You want e
ciency, but you also want food, you
want to eat, you want to have a family, so you say that purpose is connected to all
these activities. E
ciency is one aspect of our activities. Only one aspect. And
that's exactly what I'm saying - great e
ciency is desirable , but not always. Nowa-
days it's more e
cient to go from New York to Paris by plane than by boat, but is
it desirable? Would it not be better to go by boat and not enter into this kind of
society? Primarily, there have been a lot of influences on the culture of our beliefs.
My philosophy is to find what is “there”. You write the sentence “What is there?”
(with a question mark). My philosophy is concerned with what is causally there,
do you understand? I'm not interested in what is there in the sense of “What is
there?”, “What is in the house?”. I'm interested in the house, what is another house
and what do you mean by “there”? Some people think that “there” is over there and
others think that it is in another place, so I want to find out, what is “there”?
Antonio Valero: For example, causality.
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen: I believe in causality. I'm an Aristotelian. If
there's no causality, there's no will. Causality means to say why, for what purpose,
and then to say how. You make a statue of marble, or you make it of wood; but
what kind of statue would be better made in marble, and what kind of statue would
be better made in wood? Brancusi, one of the originals of abstract sculpture, said
that every material has in it the type of sculpture that fits it. You take anything
that is there as an artist does. You have to discover.
Antonio Valero: Here we leave Professor Georgescu-Roegen in a room full of
topics, papers, notes, full of his philosophy. He died a few years after this interview.
He was not in good health during his last years but his mind was as bright and sharp
as ever, and his temper just as grouchy. Goodbye, Professor Georgescu-Roegen.
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