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: Carl Sagan, Cosmos
“The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.” – Stephen Weinburg, The First Three Minutes
“We can be proud as a species because, having discovered that we are alone, we owe the gods very little.” – E.O. Wilson, Consilience
While these men are certainly entitled to their personal opinions and the freedom to express them, the fact that they make such bold claims in their popular science literature blurs the line between solid, evidence-based science, and rampant philosophical speculation. Whether one agrees with the sentiments of these scientists or not, the result of these public pronouncements has served to alienate a large segment of American society. And that is a serious problem, since scientific research relies heavily upon public support for its funding, and environmental policy is shaped by lawmakers who listen to their constituents. 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.” (