Scientism

The prestige of science has often been used to smuggle through some rather poor and often morally toxic ideas.

C.S. Lewis warned that the name of science can be abused to create a form of dictatorship. This has only been more obvious since the time he first alerted us to this danger. Here’s a quote from an article which nicely summarises this

Lewis observed that many non-scientists simply checked their critical faculties at the door when they heard claims made in the name of science. People who didn’t think we could know anything with confidence about historical figures like Julius Caesar or Napoleon because they lived such a long time ago had no problem accepting the most outlandish claims made about “pre-historic” man, because the latter claims were dressed up as science. Lewis was concerned that this kind of blind deference to scientific authority opened the door to tyranny. That’s one of the reasons it’s so concerning today when people are routinely attacked as “anti-science” just for raising thoughtful questions about claims made in the name of science. If we want to avoid the abuse of science, we need to encourage that kind of questioning, not suppress it.

With his usual brilliance, his warning comes in a rather striking and vivid way by pointing out the similarities between Science and Magic. This intriguing take on the issue is the basis for an interesting 31 minute video. It’s worth watching (check it out over a meal)…

 

One Response to “ Scientism ”

  1. […] the question potentially presupposes the mindset of Scientism. One of the features of this mindset is that only the measurable is believable. There’s a […]

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