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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1870]
==Definitions==
*1: [[methods]] and [[attitudes]] typical of or attributed to the natural scientist
*2: an exaggerated [[trust]] in the efficacy of the [[methods]] of [[natural science]] applied to all areas of [[investigation]] (as in [[philosophy]], the [[social sciences]], and the [[humanities]])
==Description==
'''Scientism''' is a term used, often pejoratively, to refer to [[belief]] in the [[universal]] applicability of the [[scientific method]] and approach, and the view that empirical science constitutes the most [[authoritative]] [[worldview]] or most valuable part of human [[learning]] to the exclusion of other viewpoints. It has been defined as "the view that the characteristic [[inductive]] [[methods]] of the [[natural sciences]] are the only source of genuine [[factual]] knowledge and, in particular, that they alone can yield true [[knowledge]] about man and [[society]]." An [[individual]] who subscribes to ''scientism'' is referred to as a scientismist. The term scientism frequently implies a critique of the more extreme [[expressions]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism logical positivism] and has been used by social scientists such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek Friedrich Hayek], philosophers of science such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper Karl Popper], and philosophers such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Putnam Hilary Putnam] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzvetan_Todorov Tzvetan Todorov] to describe the [[dogmatic]] [[endorsement]] of scientific methodology and the reduction of all knowledge to only that which is measurable.
''Scientism'' may refer to science applied "in excess". The term scientism can apply in either of two equally pejorative senses:
*To indicate the improper usage of [[science]] or scientific claims. This usage applies equally in [[contexts]] where science might not apply, such as when the topic is [[perceived]] to be beyond the scope of scientific [[inquiry]], and in contexts where there is insufficient empirical [[evidence]] to justify a scientific [[conclusion]]. It includes an excessive deference to claims made by scientists or an uncritical [[eagerness]] to accept any result described as scientific. In this case, the term is a counterargument to appeals to scientific [[authority]].
*To refer to "the [[belief]] that the [[methods]] of [[natural science]], or the categories and things recognized in natural science, form the only proper elements in any philosophical or other [[inquiry]]," or that "science, and only science, describes the world as it is in itself, independent of [[perspective]]" with a concomitant "elimination of the [[psychological]] dimensions of [[experience]]."
The term is also used to highlight the possible [[dangers]] of lapses towards excessive [[reductionism]] in all fields of human [[knowledge]].
For [[sociologists]] in the tradition of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber Max Weber], such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas Jürgen Habermas], the concept of scientism relates significantly to the philosophy of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism positivism], but also to the cultural rationalization of the modern West.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher E. F. Schumacher], in his ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed A Guide for the Perplexed]'', criticized scientism as an impoverished [[worldview]] confined solely to what can be counted, measured and weighed. "The architects of the modern worldview, notably [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo Galileo] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes Descartes], assumed that those things that could be weighed, measured, and counted were more true than those that could not be quantified. If it couldn't be counted, in other words, it didn't count."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientism]
[[Category: Philosophy]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1870]
==Definitions==
*1: [[methods]] and [[attitudes]] typical of or attributed to the natural scientist
*2: an exaggerated [[trust]] in the efficacy of the [[methods]] of [[natural science]] applied to all areas of [[investigation]] (as in [[philosophy]], the [[social sciences]], and the [[humanities]])
==Description==
'''Scientism''' is a term used, often pejoratively, to refer to [[belief]] in the [[universal]] applicability of the [[scientific method]] and approach, and the view that empirical science constitutes the most [[authoritative]] [[worldview]] or most valuable part of human [[learning]] to the exclusion of other viewpoints. It has been defined as "the view that the characteristic [[inductive]] [[methods]] of the [[natural sciences]] are the only source of genuine [[factual]] knowledge and, in particular, that they alone can yield true [[knowledge]] about man and [[society]]." An [[individual]] who subscribes to ''scientism'' is referred to as a scientismist. The term scientism frequently implies a critique of the more extreme [[expressions]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism logical positivism] and has been used by social scientists such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek Friedrich Hayek], philosophers of science such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper Karl Popper], and philosophers such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Putnam Hilary Putnam] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzvetan_Todorov Tzvetan Todorov] to describe the [[dogmatic]] [[endorsement]] of scientific methodology and the reduction of all knowledge to only that which is measurable.
''Scientism'' may refer to science applied "in excess". The term scientism can apply in either of two equally pejorative senses:
*To indicate the improper usage of [[science]] or scientific claims. This usage applies equally in [[contexts]] where science might not apply, such as when the topic is [[perceived]] to be beyond the scope of scientific [[inquiry]], and in contexts where there is insufficient empirical [[evidence]] to justify a scientific [[conclusion]]. It includes an excessive deference to claims made by scientists or an uncritical [[eagerness]] to accept any result described as scientific. In this case, the term is a counterargument to appeals to scientific [[authority]].
*To refer to "the [[belief]] that the [[methods]] of [[natural science]], or the categories and things recognized in natural science, form the only proper elements in any philosophical or other [[inquiry]]," or that "science, and only science, describes the world as it is in itself, independent of [[perspective]]" with a concomitant "elimination of the [[psychological]] dimensions of [[experience]]."
The term is also used to highlight the possible [[dangers]] of lapses towards excessive [[reductionism]] in all fields of human [[knowledge]].
For [[sociologists]] in the tradition of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber Max Weber], such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas Jürgen Habermas], the concept of scientism relates significantly to the philosophy of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism positivism], but also to the cultural rationalization of the modern West.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher E. F. Schumacher], in his ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed A Guide for the Perplexed]'', criticized scientism as an impoverished [[worldview]] confined solely to what can be counted, measured and weighed. "The architects of the modern worldview, notably [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo Galileo] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes Descartes], assumed that those things that could be weighed, measured, and counted were more true than those that could not be quantified. If it couldn't be counted, in other words, it didn't count."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientism]
[[Category: Philosophy]]
