Pathetic Fallacy - in Science

In Science

In science, pathetic fallacy occurs as a term peculiar to that field. Per the original meaning as coined by Ruskin, it is used pejoratively, although not limited by Ruskin’s criterion of pathos, it nonetheless revives the sense of an informal fallacy—to encourage literal communication in science, and to discourage figures of speech, that might convey an unintended false impression. An example is the phrase "Nature abhors a vacuum".

If pathetic fallacies are to be strictly and absolutely avoided, then explanations of natural phenomena should be free of the inappropriate modal force introduced by words like "want" or "try". For example, "Air hates to be crowded, and when compressed it will try to escape to an area of lower pressure". However, such phenomena have no conatus—they strive for nothing, they simply do, or do not—they do not "try". The pressure exerted by a gas is explained by kinetic theory: movement towards lower pressure is due to the probability that unobstructed gas molecules will become more evenly distributed between high and low pressure zones by a net flow from the former to the latter. Elective proclivities have nothing to do with it.

Informally, however, scientists may still take advantage of the pathetic fallacy for quick and convenient metaphoric explanations of complex scientific concepts in a readily understood way.