Scientism

Scientism is the view that the science holds primacy over other interpretations of life, (i.e., religious, mythical, spiritual, or humanistic explanations). The word is used in various contexts which are described below.

Alternate meanings

Standard dictionary definitions include the following meanings:

The use of the style, assumptions, techniques, and other attributes typically displayed by scientists.Random House Dictionary of the English Language. 1987.
Methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to the natural scientist.Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1983.
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.Webster. 1983.

"Scientism is the use of scientific or pseudoscientific language."Webster. 1983. Definition #3 for Scientism.

Scientism is the contention that the social sciences should be held to the somewhat stricter interpretation of scientific method used by the natural sciences. Webster. 1983. Definition #2 for Scientism.

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. Webster. 1983. Definition #2 for Scientism.

Scientism was a common ideology in the 19th and 20th centuries which places its trust only in scientific progress.

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. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. Bartleby.com 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.""Scientism" PBS.org. Faith and Reason.

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.

Notes

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."

External links

"Is Science Killing the soul" Time Out New York (Edge Foundation). 1999

Dawkins, Richard, "Is Science a Religion?" The Humanist. January/February 1997
Newman, Nathan, "Big Pharma, Bad Science". The Nation. July 25, 2002
"The Shamans of Scientism" by Michael Shermer, Scientific American, June, 2002

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Alternate meanings

Notes

References

See also

External links