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A Philosopher for Our Time
| Article
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11917 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1987 |
5,456 Words |
| Author
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Richard Gelwick
Richard Gelwick is associate professor and chairman of
the Department of Medical Humanities and Behavioral
Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, University of
New England, Biddeford, Maine. He is also president of
the Maine Bioethics Network. |
In 1946, Michael Polanyi gave a series of lectures entitled "Science, Faith and Society," which soon became a focus of controversy. Physical chemist and member of the Royal Society, Polanyi asserted that blind belief in science was as authoritarian as the blind religious faith of the Middle Ages. Freedom and dignity, he said, are as endangered by uncritical acceptance of science as by dogmatisms in the past.
Polanyi engaged in many lectures and discussions on this topic around the world. In 1948, the University of Manchester made the unusual arrangement of allowing Polanyi to exchange his chair in physical chemistry for one in social thought, free of teaching duties. Polanyi devoted himself to the task of showing how the modern worldview, founded upon a mistaken set of beliefs about science, had contributed to the atrocious conflicts of the twentieth century.
Equipped with an understanding of science gained through a distinguished career n physical chemistry as well as his personal observation of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Nazism, Polanyi linked the surge of violence in this century with the widespread belief in scientific objectivism. When Polanyi died on February 22, 1976, he left a new theory of how humans achieve knowledge and advance civilization's development. This new theory, called "tacit knowing" and its concrete implications, called "a society of explorers," speak to the deepest aspects of our world crisis.
An outline of this bold proposal for dealing with the nature of science, beliefs, and their impact upon society includes four major concepts in his thought: (1) the destruction of beliefs and ideals, (2) tacit knowing, (3) levels of reality, and (4) a society of explorers.
The Destruction of Beliefs and Ideals
The current world crisis is produced by the blazing conflict between high human aspirations and the material potential of scientific-technological society. Both the Soviet sphere and its opposite proclaim their way of life as leading to the improvement of human welfare, opening up the benefits of science and technology for everyone.
Polanyi observed that the present era is marked not by moral apathy but by moral passion. Because we live in a world dedicated to liberation through scientific and technological progress, we have aspirations that may lead to wars and revolutions. There is increasing conflict
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