What is Scientism?
Thomas Burnett | June 11, 2012 | BioLogos
http://biologos.org/blog/what-is-scientism...Philosopher Tom Sorell offers a more precise definition: “Scientism is a matter of putting too high a value on natural science in comparison with other branches of learning or culture.” MIT physicist Ian Hutchinson offers a closely related version, but more extreme: “Science, modeled on the natural sciences, is the only source of real knowledge.”...
...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. The number of different specializations is constantly increasing, leading to more questions and areas of exploration than ever before. Science expands our understanding, rather than limiting it.
Scientism, on the other hand, is a speculative worldview about the ultimate reality of the universe and its meaning. Despite the fact that there are millions of species on our planet, scientism focuses an inordinate amount of its attention on human behavior and beliefs. Rather than working within carefully constructed boundaries and methodologies established by researchers, it broadly generalizes entire fields of academic expertise and dismisses many of them as inferior. With scientism, you will regularly hear explanations that rely on words like “merely”, “only”, “simply”, or “nothing more than”. Scientism restricts human inquiry.
It is one thing to celebrate science for its achievements and remarkable ability to explain a wide variety of phenomena in the natural world. But to claim there is nothing knowable outside the scope of science would be similar to a successful fisherman saying that whatever he can't catch in his nets does not exist. Once you accept that science is the only source of human knowledge, you have adopted a philosophical position (scientism) that cannot be verified, or falsified, by science itself. It is, in a word, unscientific.
Alex's comment:
//Scientism, on the other hand, is a speculative worldview about the ultimate reality of the universe and its meaning.//
Yes. Religions also speculate a worldview about the ultimate reality of the universe and its meaning. Some traditional religions do the speculation according to some ancient folklores. A worldview speculated with latest discoveries of science is likely to be a better bet than a worldview speculated around some ancient folklores.
Scientism can be defined as formation of a worldview based on science. Scientism, as an act of worldview forming, does not (and cannot) abolish emotional enjoyments such as aesthetic appreciation of arts, romantic love, and religious activities. These are good examples of human experiences outside science. The rational exercise of formation of a worldview, however, shall be done around latest scientific discoveries. Scientism is appropriate in this sense.
The term "scientism" is sometimes used in a negative sense. When used that way, the charge of "scientism" shall be carefully limited to specific situations. If used against the claim that there is no knowledge beyond science, few will disagree. But "scientism" shall not be misused, say, by a tribe which worships lightnings to prevent the scientific study of lightnings. By the same token, scientific study of the psycho-social phenomenon of religion is legitimate and is not "scientism." Philosopher Daniel Dennett responded to criticism of his book
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by saying that "when someone puts forward a scientific theory that [religious critics] really don't like, they just try to discredit it as 'scientism'."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientism
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