Title: What is Scientism? | American Association for the Advancement of Science
Headings: What is Scientism?
What is Scientism?
A History of Scientism
The Scientific Revolution
The Enlightenment
Positivism
Logical Positivism
Scientism of Today
Distinguishing Science from Scientism
NOTES

Content: From a purely pragmatic standpoint, it would be wise to try a different approach. Physicist Ian Hutchinson offers an insightful metaphor for the current controversies over science: “The health of science is in fact jeopardized by scientism, not promoted by it. At the very least, scientism provokes a defensive, immunological, aggressive response from other intellectual communities, in return for its own arrogance and intellectual bullyism. It taints science itself by association.” ( 13)
Noting that most Americans enthusiastically welcome scientific advancements, particularly those in health care, transportation, and communications, Hutchinson suggests that perhaps what the public is rejecting is not actually science itself, but a worldview that closely aligns itself with science—scientism (14). By disentangling these two concepts, we have a much better chance for enlisting public support for scientific research than we would by trying to convince millions of people to embrace a materialistic, godless universe in which science is our only remaining hope. Distinguishing Science from Scientism
So if science is distinct from scientism, what is it? Science is an activity that seeks to explore the natural world using well-established, clearly-delineated methods. Given the complexity of the universe, from the very big to very small, from inorganic to organic, there is a vast array of scientific disciplines, each with its own specific techniques.