Does science answer "what is it" questions ?

[Nick666]

Does science answer "what is it" questions ? Answers that would be something other than the phenomenology associated with it . It being ...whatever...electric charge, time, space, consciousness, gravity etc . Or maybe is it physics that doesn't answer "what is it" kind of questions ?

 

[zoobyshoe]

It depends. There's a way of asking what a thing is such that no answer will suffice.

"What is a horse? I mean, does anyone really know what a horse is? Has anyone really fathomed the essence of horse-ness?"

Substitute any term for horse, and you can see that this is the type of questioner who will not be satisfied by any answer, ever.

 

[Borek]

What is a horse?

Sorry, can't resist:

Horse is as everyone can see.

(in Polish: Koń, jaki jest, każdy widzi, IMHO better translated as "Horse, how it looks like, everyone sees for himself").

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowe_Ateny

 

[zoobyshoe]

"Horse, how it looks like, everyone sees for himself"

Is that straight from the horses mouth? Or the other end?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[AlephZero]

Horse is as everyone can see.

Samuel Johnson's English Dictionary isn't much more enlightening:

A neighing quadruped, used in war, and draught and carriage.

 

[jtbell]

"What is a horse?

Blast you, now I'm going to have that silly tune dancing in my head all day:

"http://bussongs.com/songs/a-horse-is-a-horse-mr-ed-tv-show.php"

 

[Enigman]

Stop horsing around, y'all.

 

[lisab]

OP, I'm not sure I understand your question.

In general, science aims to answer "how" questions, and one step to do this is using precise definitions. So "what is it" is usually answered using a definition.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Stop horsing around, y'all.

Oh, get off yer high horse!

 

[DiracPool]

"What is a horse?

A horse is a horse, of course of course..

 

[zoobyshoe]

A horse is a horse, of course of course..

Observe:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=4813554&postcount=6

 

[DiracPool]

Observe:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=4813554&postcount=6

Darn, I was sure I did my research, how did that slip by me? Grrrrrr

 

[Chronos]

You can 'why' any subject in science until it hits a brick wall. That brick wall is the frontier of scientific knowledge. Science never 'gives up' on these questions, it just doesn't have any good answers - yet.