scientism - The Skeptic's Dictionary

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<div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> 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href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Y">y</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>scientism</h1> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><strong style="font-weight: 400">Scientism, </strong>in the strong sense,<strong> </strong>is the self-annihilating view that only scientific claims are meaningful, which is not a scientific claim and hence, if true, not meaningful. Thus, scientism is either false or meaningless. This view seems to have been held by Ludwig Wittgenstein in his <i>Tractatus Logico-philosophicus</i> (1922) when he said such things as "The totality of true propositions is the whole of natural science..." He later repudiated this view.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">In the weak sense, scientism is the view that the methods of the natural sciences should be applied to any subject matter. This view is summed up nicely by Michael Shermer:</font></p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Arial" size="3">Scientism is a scientific worldview that encompasses natural explanations for all phenomena, eschews supernatural and paranormal speculations, and embraces empiricism and reason as the twin pillars of a philosophy of life appropriate for an Age of Science (<a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000AA74F-FF5F-1CDB-B4A8809EC588EEDF">Shermer 2002</a>). </font> </p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">On the other hand, the dictionary definition of 'scientism' is the attitude and method of the typical natural scientist, whoever that might be.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><strong>See also </strong><a href="naturalism.html">naturalism</a>.</font></p> <hr align="left" width="25%" noshade> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><strong>further reading</strong></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><strong><font face="Arial" size="3">books and articles</font></strong></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.csicop.org/si/show/science_scientism_and_anti-science_in_the_age_of_preposterism">Haack, Susan. "Science, Scientism, and Anti-Science in the Age of Preposterism," <i> Skeptical Inquirer</i>, Nov/Dec 1997. </a> </font> <p style="text-align: left">Haack, Susan. 2013. "Six Signs of Scientism: Part 1," <em>Skeptical Inquirer</em>. vol 37 issue 6. November/December. <p style="text-align: left">Haack, Susan. 2013. "Six Signs of Scientism: Part 2," <em>Skeptical Inquirer</em>. vol 38 issue 1. January/February. <p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000AA74F-FF5F-1CDB-B4A8809EC588EEDF"> Shermer, Michael. "The Shamans of Scientism," <i>Scientific American</i>, September 2002.</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><strong> <font face="Arial" size="3">websites</font></strong></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/w/wittgens.htm">"Ludwig Wittgenstein"</a> in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.friesian.com/wittgen.htm">Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) </a></font> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientism">Scientism</a> - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</font><p></webContent>Last updated 27-Oct-2015 </p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <br /> <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. 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