is science the only path to the truth

7/26/2019 Is Science the Only Path to the Truth

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Bhaktivedanta College

TH5447 Science and Religion

Student: Gustavo H.P. Moura

Tutor: Goal Guta

!ate: March "#th$%"5

&s science the onl' sure ath to truth(

The tireless search )or truth is one o) the *ost universal )eatures o) hu*ankind+ one

,hich distinguishes it )ro* all other secies ,e kno, on -arth. This in)inite thirst )or


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the unkno,n also constitutes a eretual and o,er)ul driving )orce sustaining hu*an

endeavor and rogress. &n ancient Greece+ those ,ho ,ere eseciall' co**itted to this

investigation on the truth ,ere called hilosohers the lovers o) ,isdo*. Great

hilosohers like Plato and /ristoteles have in0uired e1tensivel' a2out ver' diverse

su23ect *atters+ 2oth natural and suernatural+ la'ing an essential )oundation )or

su2se0uent estern thought Shand+ "668. /nother i*ortant scenario o) ro)ound

hilosohical en0uir' in the ancient ,orld ,as &ndia+ ,hose legac' o) kno,ledge

e1tends virtuall' to ever' )ield o) hu*an activit' or interest+ again including the

h'sical and the *etah'sical". / si*ilarl' uni)ied or holistic aroach to kno,ledge

,as seen in -uroe even u to recent ti*es+ as e1lained 2' scholar o) Science and

Religion Peter Harrison:

Science+ as the disciline is currentl' understood+ e*erged onl' during the nineteenth

centur' 9;. Prior to that+ students o) nature had thought o) the*selves as ursuing


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ne ossi2ilit' is to de)ine science as a rocess o) constructing redictive concetual

*odels. This de)inition unites 2oth the rocesses and roduct o) science+ and identi)ies

*odel 2uilding as a suerordinate rocess skill. ithin this )ra*e,ork+ the urose o)

research is to roduce *odels ,hich reresent consistent+ redictive relationshis. 9;

&n essence+ the de)inition includes virtuall' all o) the roducts o) science+ is

consistent ,ith the e1anded de)inition o) *odels evident in the literature see uhn+

"67%D Eunetta F Ho)stein+ "6"D Miller+ "67D Stevens F Collins+ "6%8+ and uni)ies

scienti)ic )ields ,hich oerate ,ith diverse *ethodologies.

Taking into account this 2roader de)inition o) science+ & argue in this essa' that roer

scienti)ic investigation *ust enco*ass 2oth *aterial and i**aterial heno*ena ,hile

also *aking roo* )or the ossi2ilit' o) a sure*e 2eing ,ho *a' 2e the source andcontroller o) 2oth. Such in0uir' *ust 2e 2ased on reason 2ut not restricted 2' it.

Science+ in this 2roadest sense o) the ter*+ can 2e considered a relia2le ath to the truth.

Returning to our ancient sages= vie, o) ulti*ate realit' and the *eans the' conceived

)or aroaching it+ Plato de)ined t,o *ain conditions that need to 2e *et )or ac0uiring

roer kno,ledge: the )irst is universalityor objectivity+ *eaning that real kno,ledge

should 2e true )ro* an' oint o) vie,+ not relativeD the second condition is eternalityor

immutability+ ,hich *eans that 2oth kno,ledge and the o23ect o) kno,ledge should

re*ain constant in all hases o) ti*e. ro* this )ollo,s that sensi2le o23ects in this

,orld are unsuita2le )or kno,ledge in this highest sense+ since these o23ects are

erceived su23ectivel' 2' eole and the' are constantl' changing. Ilti*ate kno,ledge

is thus ossi2le onl' in a di))erent real*+ in a ,orld o) unchanging )or*s 2e'ond sace

and ti*e o) ,hich this sensi2le ,orld is *erel' a shado,. Shand+ "66+ . $#8

/ si*ilar understanding o) realit' is resented in the Bhagavad>Gita+ one o) the *ost

i*ortant treatises o) &ndian thought+ as )ollo,s:

) the i*er*anent one )inds no 2eingD one )inds no non2eing o) the er*anent.

&ndeed+ the certaint' o) 2oth o) these has 2een erceived 2' seers o) the truth$.

Sch,eig+ $%%7+ . 4%8

2Bhagavad-G t 2.16 nsato vidyate bhvo nbhvo vidyate satahubhayor api drsto 'ntas tv anayos tattva-daribhih

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&n other ,ords+ an ehe*eral *ani)estation ,hich didn=t e1ist 2e)ore and ,ill cease to

e1ist so*eti*e in the )uture cannot 2e counted as a real o23ect+ )or it is insu2stantial as

the ,aves in the ocean. n the other hand+ real o23ects are eternall' unchanging.

2viousl'+ such transcendent realit' can never 2e arehended ,ith our senses and their

e1tensions in the )or* o) *icroscoes and telescoes.

This lack o) e*irical evidence has led several conte*orar' scientists to den' the

e1istence o) such transcendent realit' and to tr' to reduce all realit' to gross *atter+

ignoring the a1io* that absence o! evidencedoes not constitute evidence o! absence.

Contesting this reductionist outlook+ theologian John Haught ,rites:

The 2elie) s'ste* that !ennett and the other ne, atheists su2scri2e to is kno,n as

@scienti)ic naturalis*.@ &ts central dog*a is that onl' nature+ including hu*ans and our

creations+ is realD that God does not e1istD and that science alone can give us co*lete

and relia2le kno,ledge o) realit'. Haught+ $%%+ . 8

The a2ove tenets can 2e classi)ied in t,o categories: an ontological clai*+ that realit'

consists onl' o) 0uanti)ia2le thingsD and an eiste*ological clai*+ that Science is the

onl' legiti*ate ath to kno,ledge. Ho,ever+ there are no scienti)ic e1eri*ents

de*onstrating that nothing e1ists 2e'ond *atter nor that all true kno,ledge has to 2e

2ased on e*irical evidence+ and thus ?scienti)ic naturalis* is an incoherent and sel)>

su2verting 2elie) s'ste*A i2id+ .768.

This is not to den' the i*ortance o) the scienti)ic *ethod+ ,hich certainl' has

contri2uted to re*arka2le rogress in nu*erous )ields. Ho,ever+ it should 2e clari)ied

that science too is ?tied to aradig*s+ ersectives and ersonal re)erences+ and henceis not as o23ective and universal as it see*s.A !rees+ $%"%+ . "8. Moreover+ there are

e1tensive areas o) hu*an kno,ledge that do not )it ,ell into the resent scienti)ic

aradig*+ including *uch o) the hu*anities *usic+ art and literature.

Then+ ho, to re>integrate these t,o *a3or )ields o) hu*an en0uir'+ the heno*enal and

the nu*inous+ in order to achieve an e1anded scienti)ic *odel caa2le o) dealing ,ith

the )ull sectru* o) realit'(

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/ good start ,ould 2e the )rank ackno,ledge*ent o) the true scienti)ic value o) the

various discilines and ho, the' can co*le*ent each other to 2ring a2out a )uller

icture o) realit'. /s an e1a*le o) such areciative discourse+ ille* !rees 0uotes an

elo0uent ronounce*ent 2' His Holiness the Poe John Paul &&:

The sciences o) o2servation descri2e and *easure the *ultile *ani)estations o) li)e

,ith increasing recision and correlate the* ,ith the ti*e line. The *o*ent o)

transition to the siritual cannot 2e the o23ect o) this kind o) o2servation+ ,hich

nevertheless can discover at the e1eri*ental level a series o) ver' valua2le signs

indicating ,hat is seci)ic to the hu*an 2eing. But the e1erience o) *etah'sical

kno,ledge+ o) sel)>a,areness and sel)>re)lection+ o) *oral conscience+ )reedo*+ or

again+ o) aesthetic and religious e1erience+ )alls ,ithin the co*etence o)

hilosohical anal'sis and re)lection+ ,hile theolog' 2rings out its ulti*ate *eaning

according to the Creator=s lans. !rees+ $%"%+ . "#8

/nother i*ortant ste in reconciling science and religion ,ould 2e the atte*t to

*ini*iKe the negative )acets each one has disla'ed in histor'.

The darkest side o) religion has 2een the roensit' o) religious institutions to lace

the*selves in an a2solute osition+ as i) ?enthroning the*selves in the lace o) the

in)inite *'ster' into ,hich the' are suosed to initiate us.A Haught+ $%%+ . 6578.

This is tanta*ount to idolatr'+ in that eole ,orshi an idol instead o) their real o23et

o) ,orshi. But as Haught continues in his anal'sis+ the antidote )or idolatr' is not

atheis*+ 2ut )aith. ther,ise+ i) the /2solute is disosed o) as none1istent+ then the

hu*an roclivit' is to i**ediatel' create other idols in the )or* o) so *an' ?is*sA+

such as Caitalis*+ Co**unis*+ LaKis*+ ascis*+ and )or that *atter+ Scientis*. -ach

o) these ?is*sA is otentiall' as deadl' as all the others and can onl' 2e suressed 2'

redirecting the hu*an heart ,here it reall' 2elongs.

Regarding the reductionist account o) science+ its darkest )acet consists o) its

unscienti)ic denial o) God+ o) its un3usti)ied assu*tion that consciousness is *erel' an

illusion so*eho, created 2' the 2rain=s electroche*ical signals+ and o) its

*isconstruction that there is no overall urose in the universe. The conse0uences o)

such aradig* can 2e devastating:

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/theis* *akes it harder to 2elieve in the real ossi2ilit' o) the highest good+ and so

tends to,ard a kind o) desair+ and thus a corrution o) *oral character+ 2oth

individuall' and sociall'. Hare+ $%%5+ . $%8

Based on ant=s ideas+ John Hare e1lains the rational insta2ilit' o) atheis*+ ,hich

reduces hu*an 2eings to a 2ag o) che*icals ,hile tr'ing to *aintain that one=s li)e can

still 2e *oral and urose)ul. He clai*s that although it *a' 2e ossi2le+ it is certainl'

incoherent )or a erson to 2e *oral ,ithout 2eing a theist i2id+ . $%#8.

inall'+ )or all scienti)ic 2ranches to develo healthil'+ each has to avail o) a seci)ic

*ethodolog' suita2le )or the articular nature o) its investigation. &t goes against all

co**on sense that the standard rinciles relative to one scienti)ic 2ranch should al'

indiscri*inatel' to all others. Thus+ it *a' 2e endorsed that in the research o) a su2tle

heno*enon such as consciousness+ aroriate instru*ents and *ethodolog' should

2e aliedand+ ,h' not+ erhas consciousness itsel) *ight 2e *etahoricall' taken as

a kind o)


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ondon: o-t#edge.

6i#bert, 7. . (1991). 8ode# B-i#ding and a &enition o+ 7*ien*e.%o"rnal of

Research in Science &eaching' (ol )*+ No ,, //. 309.

Hare, J. (2''5). ;ant on t"e ationa# nstabi#it o+ $t"eism. n $. &o#e, % $.

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is science the only path to the truth

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