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SCIENTISM

Scientism is a word in various contexts. In general, it is an ideology which holds that science has primacy over other interpretations of life (e.g., religious, mythical, spiritual, or humanistic explanations). The term has also been applied to the view that natural sciences have primacy over other fields of inquiry such as social sciences.

Contents

Meanings of scientism

Standard dictionary definitions include the following meanings:

  1. The use of the style, assumptions, techniques, and other attributes typically displayed by scientists.[1]
  2. Methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to the natural scientist.[2]
  3. 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.[3]
  • "Scientism is the use of scientific or pseudoscientific language."[4]
  • Scientism is the contention that the social sciences should be held to the somewhat stricter interpretation of scientific method used by the natural sciences. [5]
  • Scientism is the belief that the social sciences are not science because they commonly do not hold to the somewhat stricter interpretation of scientific method used by the natural sciences.[6]
  • Scientism was a common ideology in the 19th and 20th centuries which places its trust only in scientific progress. See also positivism and social positivism.
  • Scientism is a 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. [7] This viewpoint is typified by comments such as "Scientific research has demonstrated that substance x causes cancer in humans."
  • As a form of dogma: "In essence, scientism sees science as the absolute and only justifiable access to the truth."[8]
  • Scientism can also be used to reject the assertion that the application of scientific understanding to all phenomena produces the predicted results and is therefore a reliable guide to policy.[citation needed]

See also

Portal:Philosophy
 Philosophy Portal

Notes

  1. ^ Random House Dictionary of the English Language. 1987.
  2. ^ Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1983.
  3. ^ Webster. 1983.
  4. ^ Webster. 1983. Definition #3 for Scientism.
  5. ^ Webster. 1983. Definition #2 for Scientism.
  6. ^ Webster. 1983. Definition #2 for Scientism.
  7. ^ The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. Bartleby.com
  8. ^ http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/sciism-body.html "Scientism"] PBS.org. Faith and Reason.

References

  • Haack, Susan (1997), "Science, Scientism, and Anti-Science in the Age of Preposterism", Skeptical Inquirer Magazine, Eprint
  • Harding, Sandra (1991), "Who Knows? Identities and Feminist Epistemology", in Joan E. Hartman and Ellen Messer-Davidow (eds.) (En)gendering Knowledge, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN, p. 109.
  • Hayek, F.A. (1952), The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason, The Free Press, Glencoe, IL.
  • Schoeck, Helmut, and Wiggins, James W. (eds., 1960), Scientism and Values, D. Van Nostrand, Princeton, NJ.
  • Sorell, Tom (1994), Scientism: Philosophy and the Infatuation With Science, Routledge, London, UK.
  • Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged (1987). Cited as "Random. House 1987."
  • Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged (1950), W.A. Neilson, T.A. Knott, P.W. Carhart (eds.), G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA. Cited as (Webster 1950).
  • Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1983. Frederick C. Mish (ed.), Merriam–Webster Inc., Springfield, MA. Cited as "Webster. 1983."

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