SCIENCE AND FAITH
Sir,-Professor Polanyi pictures the whole continent of Europe as plunged in the slough of materialism while Britain and America kept the lamp of idealism alight. Materialism has been responsible for the decay in morality, he says. I see no reason to suggest that the general standard of morals now is lower than it was. Even granted that such is the case, it would be unwarranted to ascribe it to the growth of materialism. All science is based on a materialist foundation. It is in fact the scientific attitude. Unfortunately the word materialism,;is used in another sense meaning a selfish, grasping outlook on life. The two meanings are quite distinct but are badly confused in your contributor’s article. The remarks about Nazi RO too are quite misleading. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that Nazism has no scientific basis. Nothing could be less scientific than the Nazi racial theories which have given rise to such persecution. It is not a scientific attitude to burn books on Mathematics and Physics which do not accord with the official viewpoint; to expel famous scientists and to worship the old gods of = mythology. Finally, I cannot accept the Sia that science is concerned with faith. Science is that body of organised knowledge which can be tested and verified by experience. It has no need of faith to support its propositions. To accept the
scientific tradition implies no act of faith. It works. That is the test of its
validity.-
A.
R.
(Dannevirke),
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 284, 1 December 1944, Page 7
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250SCIENCE AND FAITH New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 284, 1 December 1944, Page 7
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