The first example involves Newtonian physics. The conception of physics formulated by Isaac Newton inspired the notion that the entire universe is a vast machine that operates according to unvarying laws. Newton himself saw this "world machine" as evidence for a Creator who brought it into being and sustained it, but many of those following Newton came to view the universe as functioning entirely on its own, without a need for God's involvement or even His existence. Moreover, the Newtonian idea that there are general laws that govern the physical world, which can be discovered through the application of human reason, led to the notion that there are universal laws governing all sorts of other phenomena, including human behavior, which can also be deduced through the use of reason.
A second example relates to the loss of faith in the unquestionable truth of mathematics. Mathematics is, of course, closely related to science. For example, Newton used mathematics to explain how the physical world operates. Among the various types of mathematics, geometry came to be held in the highest regard in large part due to the axiomatic method developed by the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. Starting with a few fundamental, putatively self-evident axioms, Euclid was able to logically deduce a whole body of truths about geometric figures. Moreover, Euclidean geometry seemed capable of accurately describing the physical world. However, the widespread faith in the truth of Euclidean geometry eventually was undermined by the discovery of other, non-Euclidean geometries. As Pearcey and Thaxton tells us, "with the development of non-Euclidean forms of geometry, for the first time a chasm opened between what is mathematically true and what is physically true" (p. 143). In other words, mathematics could no longer be absolutely relied upon to provide an accurate picture of physical reality. Moreover, this loss of faith in the certainty of mathematics spilled over into other areas, for "the fall of Euclideanism was interpreted as discrediting all...other traditional systems" (Pearcey and Thaxton, p. 153) of thinking in fields like logic, ethics, anthropology, economics, and legal and political theory.
A final example involves Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Newton had claimed that time and space are absolute. Einstein's great achievement was to demonstrate that time and space (and motion) are not absolute, but relative--they depend on the frame of reference we choose. Einstein's notion of relativity was only intended to apply to physics, but "the general public interpreted relativity as support for the pessimism and relativism that permeated Western culture after the first world war" (Pearcey and Thaxton, p. 182). In other words, relativity was equated with relativism, despite Einstein's own efforts "to temper some of the radical extensions of his theory" (p. 183). In fact, Einstein had not done away with the idea of absolutes: he had merely substituted one absolute---the speed of light--for another absolute--time and space.
All of these demonstrate how easily scientific ideas can affect the wider culture in a negative way. The question is--why does this happen? The reason for this phenomenon seems to be the great prestige that science has acquired over the last few centuries. Since the Enlightenment in the 18th century, many have seen science as providing the most dependable (or perhaps the only) means of acquiring true knowledge of the world. Only science--it is thought--can make unassailable truth claims. Consequently, if some belief can be linked to "science," then it must be true. We see this, for example, in the notion that human beings are merely animals, albeit highly developed animals. After all, we "know" that neo-Darwinian evolution is true because it is "science," and neo-Darwinism implies that human beings evolved from ancient primates, which means that we are, ultimately, animals. However, a strong argument can be made that science is not the only means of knowing truth, and that reality consists of more than the material world with which science deals. In short, we always need to be on guard against claims that something is true because it is based on "science."
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