Scientism and Technology as Religions

Abstract. Jacques Ellul, by far the most significant author in the serious discussions on the interface between religion and technology, is apparently not known to the science-and-religion field. The reason is the imprecise use of the terminology. In scientific formulation the relationship can be su...

Полное описание

Сохранить в:  
Библиографические подробности
Главный автор: Roy, Rustum (Автор)
Формат: Электронный ресурс Статья
Язык:Английский
Проверить наличие: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Загрузка...
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Опубликовано: 2005
В: Zygon
Год: 2005, Том: 40, Выпуск: 4, Страницы: 835-844
Другие ключевые слова:B Scientism
B the theology of secularism
B Jacques Ellul
B whole-person healing
B technology as America's religion
B Science
B incommensurability of science and religion
B Huston Smith
B the fundamentalist wing of science
Online-ссылка: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Не электронный вид
Описание
Итог:Abstract. Jacques Ellul, by far the most significant author in the serious discussions on the interface between religion and technology, is apparently not known to the science-and-religion field. The reason is the imprecise use of the terminology. In scientific formulation the relationship can be summarized as technology /religion:: science/theology. The first pair are robust three-dimensional templates of most human experience; the second pair are linear, abstract concerns of a minority of citizens. In the parallel community—now well developed throughout academia—of science, technology, and society, where the technology/religion matters have been discussed more than the science/religion pair, John Caiazza's point that “techno-secularism is the real problem” has been front and center for some decades. Among the theologians most aware of this, Raimundo Panikkar, Langdon Gilkey, and Huston Smith, Smith is the one who has taken the case much further than Caiazza, recognizing the danger of the real theological challenge from the religion of scientism and actively working against it. I write from a unique background among those involved in this debate—that of being deeply embedded simultaneously both in the modern science and technology establishment and in the reform of the religious enterprise for fifty years. I make the case that matters are worse than even Smith posits. He shows that scientism as a fundamentalist modern secularism serves the exact function of the theology behind the practiced religion of America and the West, that is, technology. An unexpected ray of hope has appeared in the sudden emergence of whole-person healing (also known as complementary and alternative medicine), which is used regularly by well over half the population. This reintroduction of the spiritual dimension into this key technology of health will certainly be a major turning point.
ISSN:1467-9744
Второстепенные работы:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2005.00711.x