7) Ideology and Science

• Religion - definition


  set of ideas and beliefs about the world and how people should act. (ideology and science also have similar definitions)
• Substantive 


  belief in a supernatural power that is unable to be scientifically explained.

  Weber - religion requires a belief in God or any other supernatural deity eg. Christianity.

  • different from ideology and science as they justify positions for society/ don't believe in the supernatural.
• How does religion differ from science?

  • science is an open belief system in comparison to religion (closed)
  • religion is based upon faith (unanswered questions), science is based upon direct observation.
  • religion requires a belief (supernatural), science requires falsification (ability to be disproven)
• Ideology


  set of ideas and values shared by a social group that:

  • provides a particular vision (way of interpreting the world)
  • incomplete or false view of reality.
• Marxism and Hegemony 


  see society as divided into two opposed classes:

  • capitalist ruling class (bourgeoise) own the MOP and control the state.
  • majority working class who are propertyless and therefore forced to sell their labour.
  • capitalists take advantage of this, exploiting the workers’ labour to produce profit.
• Why is it in worker's interest to overthrow capitalism? - Marxists

  means of a socialist revolution and replace it with a classless communist society in which the MOP are collectively, not privately, owned and used to benefit society as a whole. 
• Class consciousness meaning - Marxists

  For the revolution to occur, the W/C must first become conscious of their true position as exploited ‘wage slaves’.
• Ruling class ideology meaning - Marxists 


  The R/C not only control the material MOP (factories, land etc.), they also control the MOP of ideas through institutions such as education, the media and religion. These produce R/C ideology - ideas that legitimate the status quo.
• 3 examples of the belief and ideas of ruling class ideology: - Marxists

  1. That equality will never work because it goes against ‘human nature’ 
  2.  Victim blaming ideas about poverty, such as what Bowles and Gintis call ‘the poor are dumb’ theory of meritocracy: everyone has an equal chance in life, so the poor must be poor because they are stupid or lazy. 
  3. Racist ideas about inferiority of minority ethnic groups. Which divide black and white workers and makes them easier to rule.
• hegemony meaning - Marxists

  The ruling class’ ideological domination of society.
• Gramsci (Neo-Marxists) sees workers as having dual consciousness: - Marxists

  
  

  The W/C can develop ideas that challenge R/C hegemony because workers have a dual consciousness - a mixture of ruling class ideology and ideas they develop from their own direct experience of exploitation and their struggles against it. That is why it is possible for the working class to develop class consciousness and overthrow capitalism. 
• organic intellectuals definition: - Marxists

  Workers who through their anti-capitalist struggles have developed a class consciousness.
• How do Abercrombie et al criticise Gramsci? - Marxists

  
  

  It is not the existence of dominant ideology that keeps the workers in line, it is the fear of unemployment that keeps them from rebelling.
• Patriarchal ideology - Feminists 


  see gender inequality as the fundamental division in society and patriarchal ideology as playing a key part in legitimating it.

  gender differences is a feature of all societies, there are many ideologies to justify it.
• Religious beliefs: define women as inferior - Feminists 


  There are numerous examples from a wide range of religions of the idea that women are impure or unclean, because of childbirth or menstruation. There are purification rituals such as ‘churching’ after a woman has given birth. In some Christian churches, a new mother may not receive communion until after she has been churched. 
• Pauline Marks - science been used to justify women's exclusion from education. - Feminists

  • 19th century men educating women would make them 'unfeminine' and not prepare them to nurture.
  • used in the past
• example: religious belief that does not subordinate women - Feminists

  • Hinduism
  • Goddesses portrayed as creatures of the universe.
• Religion and ideology - similarities

  provide a means of understanding and explaining the world.
• Religion and ideology - differences 


  not tied to the interests of a social group but usually open to all eg. caste
• Religion and ideology

  religion can be seen to be ideological in non-capitalist and non-pariarchal contexts
• Religion and ideology - example

  the system of stratification that dominates India - caste - is underpinned by the Hindu religious beliefs of reincarnation,

  • karma (their position is a result of their actions in a previous life)
  • Dharma (tells them that if they are good in this life, they will be reincarnated as a member of a higher caste)
• Caste System - religion and ideology 


  the caste system is rigid, hierarchical and closed system of stratification based upon birth and fate.

  • people are born into a high status or low status groups = castes
  • they remain in this their whole life time
  • this determines a persons job, status, who they marry, where they live.
• What makes something a science?

  science seen as different from religion and ideology as it claims to be true based on scientific principles such as the use of empirical evidence, collected under conditions of objectivity and value-freedom.
• empirical evidence (definition) - science 


  observable evidence collected in the physical or social world
• objectivity (definition) - science 


  avoiding bias and submitting research evidence for scrutiny from other researchers.
• value freedom (definition) - science 


  idea that the beliefs and prejudices of a researcher should not influence the way research is carried out and evidence interpreted.
• Popper - scientific method involved falsification (definition)


  aim of testing hypothesis against the evidence is to try and prove them wrong - much easier to do so.
• Popper’s idea of falsification?


  researchers should aim not to prove their hypotheses true, but to falsify them, or prove them wrong.

  no hypothesis can ever finally be proven true, due to the possibility of a future exception, but it can easily be proven false as one observation can disprove it.

  science is an open belief system where every scientists theories are open to scrutiny criticism and testing by others.
• The relationship between religion and science 


  both belief systems that attempt to explain how the world works.

  science was dominated by religious thinkers - believed that the primary purpose of science was to document the glory of God. Very different to the systematic, rational and positivists approach we associate with science today.
• when did scientific belief systems become separate from religious belief systems, according to Dixon (2008)

  • 18th century - during enlightenment
• example of how a religious organisation was replaced by a scientific explanation:

  theory of evolution replaced 7 days of creation
• Science and religion - differences

  Science

  • open belief system - open to scruting and criticism (Popper)

  Religion

  • closed belief system - religious knowledge is sacred and can't be challenged. absolute truth to criticism would b biasphemy.
• Science and religion - differences 


  Science:

  • subject to falsification and testing - scientists observe natural world and formulate hypothesis (Popper)

  Religion:

  • accepted on blind faith - concerned with a spiritual world, can't be observed, personal and unique
• Science and religion - differences 


  Science:

  • independent of state/ government

  Religion:

  • often closely linked to the state - king head of state and COE
• Science and religion - similarities (Belief System)

  Belief Systems:

  Kuhn - challenges that science is an open belief system.

  Argues that scientists work within paradigms.
• Kuhn - paradigms (definition)


  set of values, ideas, beliefs and assumptions about what scientists are investigating.
• Kuhn - states that paradigms are not questioned until the evidence against them is overwhelming.
• what does Kuhn argue that scientists do when they are testing their hypotheses?

  fit there findings into the existing paradigms, rather than attempting to falsify their hypothesis.

  only when there are so many anomies does the paradigm change, may take decades.
• therefore, Kuhn argues that science may not actually be as open as Popper describes.
• how is it similar to religion?

  Religion is not always closed, similar to how science is not always open. It takes time, but some religious organisations have changed their position on certain issues (e.g. allowing women to become priests, changing attitudes towards sexual orientation etc.).