science as a belief system

• the traditional view of science is that it is a value-free means of obtaining empirical evidence, facts and objectivity
• science is deemed as having replaced religion as the main belief system, some argue that this is because of its more open nature, as opposed to religion’s closed belief system that is not open to interpretation
• • scientific method involves conducting experiments that observe interactions between variables
  • because these steps are precisely recorded, allowing the experiment to be repeated, this verifies the results as being “true”
  • this makes knowledge obtained through scientific research objective, value-free or non-ideological
• Popper claims science is an open belief system, meaning it is open to criticism of testing. science is based on the principle of falsification, scientists are constantly seeking evidence to falsify existing theories. a theory is discarded if a better one is sought. this shows that scientific knowledge is not the absolute truth
• A closed belief system is a belief system that claims to know the absolute truth and therefore cannot be challenged
• An open belief system is a belief system that accepts questioning and alternative interpretations
• enlightenment, also known as the “age of reason” is the use of human reason, rationality and science
• falsification is a deductive approach in which a scientist starts of with a hypothesis and then sets out to try and falsify it
• induction is the process in which a scientist will start with the evidence, and then develop a theory
• science as a closed belief system

  • Kuhn found that scientific findings which did not align with the existing dominant paradigm were largely dismissed
  • in this sense, groups of leading scientist operating within a dominant paradigm dismiss the work of younger scientists if it challenges their world view
• science as a closed system

  • the scientific world view is largely based on empirical and quantitative evidence, because of this, it may attempt to oppress other forms of knowledge
  • for example, feminists argue that the science world view marginalises those who prefer to delve into the more subjective aspects of social life
• Kuhn argues that science operates within the framework of a paradigm, external interpretations from other scientists are disregarded
• Popper argues that scientific knowledge is cumulative, and so it must be an open system as it allows for theories to be criticised and reevaluated
• a belief system is any set of ideas and beliefs that people use to define their world view
• Polanyi argued that closed belief systems have 3 tendencies in which they protect themselves from challenges on their belief

  • denial of legitimacy; total rejection of the claim, further advancing that only they hold a monopoly of truth
  • subsidiary explanations; deflect the argument
  • circularity; each idea in the system is explained in terms of another idea
• Scientism is a belief system that claims that scientific findings can explain all aspects of reality, refuting the idea that science cannot answer the ultimate questions of life
• scientism promotes secular views
• Kuhn & the paradigm

  An example is when Dr Velikovsky published his 1950 book “Worlds in Collision” in which he advanced his unprecedented theory of the earth’s origins which challenged a lot of the fundamental assumptions surrounding biology, geology etc. scientists rushed to reject his work, those who called for the theory to be tested were victimised or lost their job
• because of its many advancements in technology and medicine, science has generated a growing faith over the past century
• functionalist Merton argues that science can only work when supported by other institutions and values, including religious ones. He defines four leading norms that act as a guideline for scientists when conducting their research
• CUDOS

  • communism; scientific results are the common property of the science community and must be shared among the masses
  • universalism; all scientists have the right to make a contribution regardless of race, nationality, gender, etc.
  • Disinterestedness; scientists must maintain an arms length attitude to their findings, and not involve their personal beliefs or activism
  • Organised scepticism; all findings are open to critical scrutiny
• CUDOS are a set of values that scientists were to harbour in order to maximise the amount of scientific knowledge they gained
• the prime distinction between science and religion is that science operates on the basis of an open belief system, meaning it is open to alternate interpretations, whereas religion operates on the basis of a closed belief system, in the sense that they claim a monopoly of truth
• criticisms of scientific knowledge

  marxists and feminists believe that it is used as a tool to facilitate the oppression of women and the proletariat respectively, eg. the pursuit for scientific knowledge is often motivated by the desire to add an element of biological credence to the notion than men are inherently more dominant
• more criticism of scientific knowledge

  postmodernists such as Jean-Francois Lyotard argue that science is comprised of ancient meta-narratives that claim to known the grand truth, when in reality science is just another belief system, like religion, that is used to assert control over people