THE question of the place of science in human life is not a scientific question. It is a philosophical question. Scientism, the view that science can explain all human conditions and expressions, mental as well as physical, is a superstition, one of the dominant superstitions of our day; and it is not an insult to science to say so. For a sorry instance of present-day scientism, it would be hard to improve on Daniel C. Dennett's book. "Breaking the Spell" is a work of considerable historical interest, because it is a merry anthology of contemporary superstitions....feast on the rest here. And I thought only Christians found Dennett to be full of crap.
The things that grow in water cannot bear fruit in dry and arid places.
~St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 2
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Wieseltier on Scientism
Huhoo. This is just too delicious. Opening salvo: