Title: Science and Western Civilization by William H. Young | NAS
Headings: Science and Western Civilization
Science and Western Civilization
Content: This led to the realization that the other Newtonian entities were also really known only by their mathematical structure, that their reality could only be established mathematically. That science was confined to knowledge of structure was of great “humanistic” importance, for it meant that the nature of realities other than those provided by science was not precluded. The truly significant change in modern science in the early twentieth century was the change in its metaphysical foundations. Scientism, the belief that scientific methods can and should be applied in all investigations, was replaced by the belief that science provides knowledge about only a limited aspect of reality, that man’s religious impulses, philosophical and humanistic ideas, and mystical beliefs are other aspects of reality. Again, in the early twenty-first century, scientific discoveries regarding human nature by the new sciences of genetics, neurobiology, and evolutionary psychology have led to a reappearance of scientism from some bio-prophets. The new scientism argues that man’s consciousness arises from electrochemical brain processes, not from an immaterial psyche or soul. As before, it is not the science itself that is the issue, but the speculative philosophies, especially on religious belief, not necessitated by the scientific discoveries. For the first time in our history, academic postmodern multiculturalism rejects Western science and denies the validity of scientific actuality and methodology. Ironically, it also rejects the verities or truths provided by Western liberal education, in both instances adopting the illusion that all reality is socially constructed, and reflects mere opinion. And the sustainability ideology revives the romantic worship, rather than the understanding, of nature.