The first
post within this series on epistemology focused on the idea that certainty
is necessary for knowledge (which, of course, it isn’t). This next post in our
series is going to speak about another common error. This is usually found
among skeptics rather than Christians. It’s called “scientism,” and it contains
the following idea:
2. All knowledge can only be gained by
science or the scientific method.
This is both a
naïve and false view for several reasons. First, a clear definition of what
counts as necessary and sufficient for science has not been forthcoming.
Virtually every definition proposed of science either excludes some things that
are counted as scientific or else includes things that would clearly not be
regarded as scientific. In any case, no uncontroversial definition of science
exists, and if that’s the case, it’s difficult then to demand that all
knowledge claims be subjected to science!
Next, scientism
is self-refuting. This is because the claim that “all knowledge can only be
gained by science” is not itself a deliverance of science. It cannot even in
principle be derived from science. It is a philosophical claim that must be
either presupposed or else argued for on the basis of solely or mostly
philosophical claims. If that is the case, however, then if we assume the
principle is correct, then the claim “all knowledge can only be gained by
science” is false. If something’s assumed truth leads to its falsehood, then we
call that self-refuting.
I have written
elsewhere on scientism, and while it is largely not accepted in philosophical
circles (or if it is it is greatly modified), one runs into this on your
run-of-the-mill atheist types.
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