Scientism

Summary

Dominique Pagani draws a clear distinction between science and scientism: the former is not an ideology, the latter is one1. He defines scientism as a "second imperialism", which would have every question go through the methods of the natural sciences2. In his view, the true scientist is not a scientistic one, since it is illegitimate to move from the univocal discourse of equations to ordinary language3. Scientism appears when the scientist uses his cognitive prestige to answer the question "what ought I to do?"1. He finds one source of it in Descartes, in the expression "all things" subjected to the geometric model4, and associates it with empiricism, mechanism and the banishment of any subject5. He applies the same opposition in another field: ecologism is to ecology what scientism is to science6. He says he respects science while rejecting positivist scientism7.

1. 1#9.16 How can sciences of history be real?4 Mar 2021 · 1:25:59
2. 2#5.3 bis Questions (Facebook Live)13 Jan 2019 · 28:52
3. 3Calves and Things (3): the dictatorship of the bobotariat6 Oct 2020 · 5:22
4. 4#9.17 The geopolitical metaphor: Planck, Descartes, Clouscard17 Mar 2021 · 49:54
5. 5#9.17 The geopolitical metaphor: Planck, Descartes, Clouscard17 Mar 2021 · 1:10:17
6. 6A balance in nature?31 Mar 2021 · 16:18
7. 7A balance in nature?31 Mar 2021 · 38:47

Summary produced automatically from 7 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.