Ideology, Science and Religion

There are 5 key features of religion.

1. Religion is a closed system – knowledge is sacred and cannot be challenged.

   • While scientific knowledge is provisional, open to challenge and potentially disprovable, religion claims to have special, perfect knowledge of the absolute truth.

   • For example, Azande believed that coincidence and chance aren’t real and misfortune is from witchcraft. They can make an accusation of witchcraft against suspected matters, resolved from their prince. Administer poison to a chicken, if it dies then they have witchcraft. If it doesn’t die then they blame the poison. Same outcome, closed system.

2. The existence of God and other religious beliefs cannot be proven.

   • Religious truths come from holy texts like the Bible and Qur’an.

3. Religious faith an experience is subjective.

   • Faith and experience are subjective because people attach different meanings to texts and do things differently and have different beliefs.

4. Religious arguments are often circular.

   • ‘I know God exists because I have faith’ and ‘My faith is sustained by God’s existence’ are statements that have the issue of saying the same thing.

5. Religion has absolute truths.

   • Heresy refers to beliefs or opinions that are viewed as provocative because they’re at odds with religious belief systems. In the Middle Ages, Christianity usually punished heretics by execution or excommunication.

   • Salman Rushdie was considered a heretic as he wrote satanic verses – this was heresy as it tried to mix magic realism with a description of the origins and various facets of Islam. Other ideas weren’t supported.

   • Galileo was considered a heretic because the was the first to report telescope observations – heresy as he said everything revolved around the sun (whereas religion believed everything revolved around earth). He was excommunicated from Catholic Church.

There are 5 key features of science:

1. Science is an open system – this is because of the way scientific research is conducted.

2. Communism – scientific knowledge isn’t private property. Scientists must share it with the scientific community (by publishing their findings) otherwise, knowledge can’t grow.

3. Universalism – the truth or falsity of scientific knowledge is judged by universal, objective criteria (such as testing) and not by the particular race, sex, etc. of the scientists who produces it.

4. Disinterestedness – being committed to discovering knowledge for its own sake. Having to publish their findings makes it harder for scientists to practice fraud since it enables others to check their claims.

5. Organised Scepticism – no knowledge claim is regarded as ‘sacred’. Every idea is open to questioning, criticism and objective investigation.

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE:

• Religion = closed system, Science = open system

• Religion = religious beliefs cannot be proven, Science = scientific things can be proven

• Religion = religious faith and experience is subjective, Science = shared experience and objective

• Religion = religious arguments are circular, Science = cumulative – built upon and shared

• Religion = has absolute truths, Science = checked/disproven and has theories

POSTMODERNISM – ASSESSING THE CLAIMS OF SCIENCE:

• Feyerabend (1975) thinks science isn’t as open as it claims – what scientists say they do is often very different from what they actually do.

  • He claims there’s no scientific, logical model that all scientists faithfully follow.

  • Individual scientists follow their own rules and often deviate from rational thinking and practices.

• Kaplan (1964) points out that many scientific discoveries are the product of accident, inspired guesses, imagination and luck rather than logic.

  • Argues that when scientists write up their accounts of the research process in scientific journals, they ‘reconstruct logic’ – their accounts are partly fictionalised; they add in logic and rationality that fellow scientists expect to see.

  • Argues that cheating is fairly commonplace in science because scientists want to prove their own theories right and there’s little chance of being caught as there’s very little prestige in re-doing someone else’s work – therefore reliability is overrated as very little work is repeated or verified.

• Kuhn (1962) challenges the openness of science as scientists often refuse to consider challenges to their existing knowledge because they work in paradigms.

  • A paradigm is a set of shared assumptions which all scientists are socialised into during their education and training, and which shape dominant scientific thought and actions for hundreds of years – this is similar to how religious faith shapes people’s behaviour.

  • Scientists who follow the rules of the paradigm are rewarded with research grants, awards and professorships, whilst the research findings of any scientist who works outside the paradigm or challenges it is unlikely to be accepted by the scientific community in the short term – they may be mocked, and consequently find it difficult to obtain a teaching or research post.

  • Scientists may accumulate enough evidence to contradict the dominant paradigm, and this may eventually result in a period of scientific revolution in which old ideas are replaced by new ways of thinking about and doing science – this process may take decades.

POSTMODERNISM, RELIGION AND SCIENCE:

• Lyotard (1984) argues that science and religion are metanarratives that falsely claim to possess the truth.

• In the postmodern world people have become sceptical of all metanarratives that tell what’s right or wrong, or how to live.

• Many people have grown disillusioned with religion and science, for example, many people believe science has caused as many problems as it solves.

• In the postmodern age people no longer seek truth from a single belief system or metanarrative.

• Instead, they can pick and choose from a variety of alternative belief systems that have emerged as critiques of conventional metanarratives.

• Many people move away from conventional religions to New Age spiritual movements, sects and cults.

• However, scientific beliefs are tested against evidence and are therefore still seen by members of society as more objective and valid forms of ‘truth’ than religious or political beliefs. Bruce observes that people can see that science always has superior outcomes to religion.

• Additionally, it’s important not to exaggerate the extent to which science has lost its influence. Scientific technology underpins the smooth running of modern societies, as well as most people’s identity and lifestyle. However, it’s probably true that people today are more aware of the negative effects of science than in the past.

CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSTMODERN THEORY:

• Religion may influence lifestyle with going to church and praying, science may influence lifestyle with weight, blood pressure and exercise.

• Some problems that people think science causes are nuclear weapons, drugs, alcohol.

• Some of the alternative belief systems that have emerged as critiques of conventional metanarratives are Scientology, humanism, transcendental meditation, totemism and paganism.

• Science has shown itself to be superior to religion with effective medicine.

• Science might underpin someone’s lifestyle or identity with diet and exercise.