Scientism

The term scientism has been used with different meanings in the literature. The term is often used as a pejorative to indicate the improper usage of science or scientific claims. The charge of scientism often is used as a counter-argument to appeals to scientific authority in contexts where science might not apply, such as when the topic is understood to be beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. In contrast with this was its usage in the early 20th century, which was as a neutral descriptive and roughly synonymous with logical positivism. The term scientism can also be used, sometimes with a more neutral tone, to describe the view that science has authority over all other interpretations of life, such as philosophical, religious, mythical, spiritual, or humanistic explanations. It has also been applied to the view that the natural sciences have authority over other fields of inquiry such as social sciences. The terms "scientific imperialism" and "scientific fundamentalism" have occasionally been used to refer to some of these concepts in an almost exclusively pejorative manner.

Overview

Reviewing the references to scientism in the works of contemporary scholars, Gregory R. Peterson detects two main broad themes:

• (1) it is used to criticize a totalizing view of science as if it were capable of describing all reality and knowledge, or as if it were the only true way to acquire knowledge about reality and the nature of things;
• (2) it is used to denote a border-crossing violation in which the theories and methods of one (scientific) discipline are inappropriately applied to another (scientific or non-scientific) discipline and its domain. Examples of this second usage is to label as scientism the attempts to claim science as the only or primary source of human values (a traditional domain of ethics), or as the source of meaning and purpose (a traditional domain of religion and related worldviews).

According to Mikael Stenmark in the Encyclopedia of science and religion, while the doctrines that are described as scientism have many possible forms and varying degrees of ambition, they share the idea that the boundaries of science (that is, typically the natural sciences) could and should be expanded so that something that has not been previously considered as a subject pertinent to science can now be understood as part of science, (usually with science becoming the sole or the main arbiter regarding this area or dimension). In it's most extreme form, scientism is the view that science has no boundaries, that in due time all human problems and all aspects of human endeavor will be dealt and solved by science alone. Stenmark proposes the expression scientific expansionism as a synonym of scientism.

Relevance to the science and religion debate

Gregory R Peterson remarks that "for many theologians and philosophers, scientism is among the greatest of intellectual sins". In fact, today the term is often used against vocal critics of religion-as-such. For instance, the philosopher of science Daniel Dennett responded to criticism of his book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by saying that "when someone puts forward a scientific theory that [religious critics] really don't like, they just try to discredit it as 'scientism'". Meanwhile, in an essay that emphasizes parallels between scientism and traditional religious movements, The Skeptics Society founder Michael Shermer self-identifies as "scientistic" and defines the term as "a scientific worldview that encompasses natural explanations for all phenomena, eschews supernatural and paranormal speculations, and embraces empiricism and reason as the twin pillars of a philosophy of life appropriate for an Age of Science."

Scientific imperialism

Scientific imperialism is a term that appears to have been coined by Dr Ellis T Powell when addressing the Commonwealth Club of Canada on 8 September 1920. Though he gave a definition of imperialism as, "the sense of arbitrary and capricious domination over the bodies and souls of men," yet he used the term 'scientific imperialism' to mean "the subjection of all the developed and undeveloped powers of the earth to the mind of man."

In modern parlance, however, scientific imperialism more often means "the tendency to push a good scientific idea far beyond the domain in which it was originally introduced, and often far beyond the domain in which it can provide much illumination." (John Dupre, Against Scientific Imperialism, 2006) It can thus mean an attitude towards knowledge in which the beliefs and methods of science are assumed to be superior to and to take precedence over those of all other disciplines. "Devotees of these approaches are inclined to claim that they are in possession not just of one useful perspective on human behavior, but of the key that will open doors to the understanding of ever wider areas of human behavior."

It is also apparent in "those who believe that the study of politics can and should be modelled on the natural sciences, a position defended most forcibly in the United States, and those who have dissented, viewing this ambition as methodologically unjustified and ethically undesirable."

Critique of power

It has also been defined as the "pursuit of power through the pursuit of knowledge," and its pejorative use arguably reflects the frustration felt by some with "the limitations of reductive scientism (scientific imperialism)." And "the myth that science is the model of truth and rationality still grips the mind of much of our popular and scientific culture. Even though philosophers of science over the past few decades have gutted many of the claims of this scientific imperialism, many thinkers, knee-jerk agnostics, and even judges persist in the grip of this notion." Such critics of science even question whether we should "automatically assume...that successful scientific theories are true or approximately true models of the world," and periodically express a desire to "dethrone science from an imperialistic stance over philosophy and theology.". Retrieved August 3, 2007.

Unreal expectations

It is claimed that some scientists harbour "unreal expectations and mistaken assumptions, their hubris and their imperialism," in the sense that they wish to extend the methods and ideology of science into all regions of human investigation.

Religion of intellectuals

Scientific imperialism, "the idea that all decisions, in principle, can be made scientifically - has become, in effect, the religion of the intellectuals," [Staddon] for it is doubtless "a natural tendency, when one has a successful scientific model, to attempt to apply it to as many problems as possible. But it is also in the nature of models that these extended applications are dangerous."

This attitude can come to involve power, coercion and domination over other disciplines. In its most virulent forms it can seek to intimidate and subordinate 'non-believers,' or those it perceives as being insufficiently educated in the ways of science. It can thus involve some zealotry, an over-adherence to strict dogma and a rather fundamentalist belief that science alone stands supreme over all other modes of inquiry. In this it may come close to gangsterism and cultural imperialism. It may then be seen as a rigid and intolerant form of intellectual monotheism.

Marginalised

People who do not stress this absolute domination of science or who are more laissez-faire in their attitude, perhaps displaying insufficient science zeal, may find themselves marginalised, deviantised and even demonised as wimps, half-baked, freaks, as religious romantics and as irrational. Only those who adhere strictly to the dogmas of the science 'mother church' are accorded the greatest credibility and reverence. Such behaviour clearly seeks to extol the virtues of the scientific paradigm over all other viewpoints and modes of interpreting Nature, the world and human behaviour. This attitude tends to foster a patronising and arrogant notion that scientists belong to an elite class of people who deal with matters of much greater importance than the average person.

In medicine

Another meaning of this term is shown when it is claimed that "poor people in developing countries are being exploited in research for the benefit of patients in the developed world."In such an example, then it is clear that, "the scientific community has a responsibility to ensure that all scientific research is conducted ethically." Another example lies in the alleged misappropriation of indigenous drugs in poor countries by drug companies in the developed world: "Ethnopharmacology involves a series of sociopolitical, economic and ethical dilemmas, at various levels...frequently host country scientists, visiting scientists, and informants disagree...research efforts are (often) perceived as scientific imperialism; scientists are accused of stealing plant materials and appropriating traditional plant knowledge for financial profit and/or professional advancement. Many governments, as well as indigenous societies are increasingly reluctant to permit such research...historically neither native populations nor host countries have shared to a significant extent the financial benefits from any drug that reaches the market...unless these issues are amply discussed and fairy resolved, medicinal plant research runs the risk of serving ethically questionable purposes."

Alternate usages

Standard dictionary definitions include the following applications of the term "scientism":

• The use of the style, assumptions, techniques, and other attributes typically displayed by scientists.
• Methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to the natural scientist.
• An exaggerated trust in the efficacy of the methods of natural science applied to all areas of investigation, as in philosophy, the social sciences, and the humanities.
• The use of scientific or pseudoscientific language."
• The contention that the social sciences should be held to the somewhat stricter interpretation of scientific method used by the natural sciences.
• The belief that the social sciences are not sciences because they commonly do not hold to the somewhat stricter interpretation of scientific method used by the natural sciences.
• The belief that scientific knowledge is the foundation of all knowledge and that, consequently, scientific argument should always be weighted more heavily than other forms of knowledge, particularly those which are not yet well described or justified from within the rational framework, or whose description fails to present itself in the course of a debate against a scientific argument. It can be contrasted by doctrines like historicism, which hold that there are certain "unknowable" truths.
• As a form of dogma: "In essence, scientism sees science as the absolute and only justifiable access to the truth."

See also

Antiscience Antireductionism Conflict thesis Mary Midgley Panglossianism Philosophy of science

Positivism Pseudoscience Pseudoskepticism Scientistic materialism Technologism Techno-utopianism

Philosophy Portal

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Aeschliman, Michael D. The Restitution of Man: C.S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1983. ISBN 0802819508 ISBN 9780802819505
• Bannister, Robert C. Sociology and Scientism: The American Quest for Objectivity, 1880-1940. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. ISBN 0807817333 ISBN 9780807817339
• Haack, Susan. Defending Science—Within Reason: Between Scientism and Cynicism. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2003. ISBN 1591021170 ISBN 9781591021179
• Olafson, Frederick A. Naturalism and the Human Condition: Against Scientism. London: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415252598 ISBN 9780415252591 ISBN 0415252601 ISBN 9780415252607
• Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York: Vintage Books, 1993. ISBN 0679745408 ISBN 9780679745402
• Schoeck, Helmut, and James W. Wiggins. Scientism and Values. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1960.
• Sorell, Tom. Scientism: Philosophy and the Infatuation with Science. International library of philosophy. London: Routledge, 1991. ISBN 0415033993 ISBN 9780415033992
• Stenmark, Mikael. Scientism: Science, Ethics, and Religion. Ashgate science and religion series. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001. ISBN 0754604454 ISBN 9780754604457 ISBN 0754604462 ISBN 9780754604464

External links

• Vladislav S. Olkhovsky. How science correlates to Christianity, atheistic scientism, and New Age mysticism, Scientific Centre "Institute for Nuclear Research," Kiev-252028, Ukraine. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• Henry F. Schaefer III. C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism, C. S. Lewis Society. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• Duncan Bell (2006) Beware of false prophets: biology, human nature and the future of International Relations theory, International Affairs 82 (3), 493–510. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• John Dupré, Against Scientific Imperialism, Philosophy of Science Association Proceedings 2, 1994: pp. 374-381. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• John Dupré, The Disunity of Science (2006) Interviewed by Paul Newall. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• E Elisabetsky, Sociopolitical, economical and ethical issues in medicinal plant research, J Ethnopharmacol, 1991 Apr; 32 (1-3): 235-9. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• Ted Nield, The Madness of Scientists. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• J E R Staddon, Scientific Imperialism and Behaviorist Epistemology, Behavior and Philosophy, 2004. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
• Wilmshurst 314 (7084): 840 Comment > BMJ 1997;314(7084):840 (22 March), doi:. Retrieved August 3, 2007.

General Philosophy Sources

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
• Philosophy Sources on Internet EpistemeLinks. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
• Guide to Philosophy on the Internet. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
• Paideia Project Online. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
• Project Gutenberg. Retrieved August 2, 2007.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Scientism  ^history
• Scientific_imperialism  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Scientism"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.