science and religion Flashcards
what are the 3 core principles of science?
-science is the pursuit of facts
-its objective
-studies the impact of cause and effect based on reliable data
what are the CUDOS norms?
(Merton)
-Communism (scientific knowledge should be shared with the community)
-Universalism (all scientists should be regarded as equal)
-Disinterestedness (committed to truth and honest findings, no fraud or bias)
-Organised Scepticism (all knowledge should be challenged and scrutiny should be encouraged)
what are Aldridge’s 3 stages of transitioning from religious to scientific explanations?
1-theological stage (actions of spirits/God)
2-metaphysical stage (natural actions replace phenomina)
3-scientific stage (rational explanations based on evidence)
what is the interpretivism view of scientific knowledge?
all knowledge is socially constructed as a result of the resources available to the social group creating it
-Woolgar - little green men (discovery of pulsars by Cambridge astronomy lab was initially annotated as LGM1 and LGM2 meaning little green men, but this is unaccepted in the scientific community so they determined it must be a type of star)
what is the marxist and feminist view of science?
both are conflict theories so both argue that scientific knowledge serves the interests of a specific group
for example, the theory of ballistics was driven by the need for new weaponry which could be manufactured and sold
what is the postmodernist view of science?
science is a metanarrative trying to provide a big picture of what is ‘true’
lyotard - science falsely claims to find the truth but in reality its more of a way of thinking used to dominate people. science has become a technoscience, serving capitalist interests by producing commodities for profit
what impact does science have on religion?
its not necessarily the case that the growth of science has led to a decline in religion, millions still identify with religion
example - peoples temple mass suicide 1978
