I’ve complained in the recent past about physicists bashing philosophy, thinking this technological epoch an ideal time for thinking deeply about ethical questions. I also believe that philosophers can reach truths before scientists can, even if they can’t prove their assertions. Those beliefs can be guideposts for others making scientific progress. The physicist George Ellis agrees, as he states in a Scientific American dialogue with journalist John Horgan. (Thanks to The Browser for pointing it out.) An excerpt:

“John Horgan:

[Lawrence] Krauss, Stephen Hawking and Neil deGrasse Tyson have been bashing philosophy as a waste of time. Do you agree?

George Ellis:

If they really believe this they should stop indulging in low-grade philosophy in their own writings. You cannot do physics or cosmology without an assumed philosophical basis. You can choose not to think about that basis: it will still be there as an unexamined foundation of what you do. The fact you are unwilling to examine the philosophical foundations of what you do does not mean those foundations are not there; it just means they are unexamined.

Actually philosophical speculations have led to a great deal of good science. Einstein’s musings on Mach’s principle played a key role in developing general relativity. Einstein’s debate with Bohr and the EPR paper have led to a great of deal of good physics testing the foundations of quantum physics. My own examination of the Copernican principle in cosmology has led to exploration of some great observational tests of spatial homogeneity that have turned an untested philosophical assumption into a testable – and indeed tested – scientific hypothesis. That’ s good science.”