Phi 103 - Scientism

Jennifer Bonham

PHI-103

March 5, 2017

Richard Mohline

Scientism

        Scientism, according to Andre Hughes, is only being able to validly attain knowledge through natural sciences. Scientism was originally a derogatory term because both philosophers and scientists disagreed with its main claim but over time its supporters claimed is as a “badge of honor”. Scientism absorbed most of the questions that were previously asked and answered by philosophers and argued that science was the only way to truly answer any of the questions. Hughes argues that philosophy is necessary to fix certain errors made by scientists and to help them further their research. There are several other objections to scientism in the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

        While science is able to offer details about metaphysical claims, they have not been able to prove any fundamental philosophical claims thus far meaning scientism hasn’t been able to replace the metaphysical portion of philosophy yet. An example of this is in trying to explain the origin of the universe. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow argue that it is possible for the universe to have come from another universe and that we actually live in a multiverse. But if we live in a multiverse then the origin or even the existence of it needs to be explained. Science has yet to be able to explain the origin of the universe and until then philosophy will remain necessary to pontificate and provide explanations for such things.

        When it comes to epistemology, science is able to explain very little about how humans are able to comprehend the universe around us and give absolutely no information on how we know that our universe is truly comprehensible. Some scientists argue that humans are born with the innate desire for knowledge but their reasoning only goes so far. They argue that knowledge of predators and their behaviors helped earlier humans survive. While basic survival skills are explained by this theory it does not help explain why humans are fascinated by quantum physics and decomposing partial fractions. While a basic knowledge of genetics is necessary to prevent mutations caused by incestual relations, complete knowledge of DNA sequence analysis is not something that humans truly need to understand. The human desire for knowledge can be speculated upon by philosophers but cannot be confirmed by scientists meaning that scientism does not contain the answer to every question.