Science, Faith And Society

Jacket Description/Back: Polanyi aims to show that science must be understood as a community of inquirers held together by a common faith; science, he argues, is not the use of 'scientific methods' but rather consists in a discipline imposed by scientists on themselves in the interest of discovering an objective, impersonal truth. Publisher Marketing: UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM RIDDELL MEMORIAL LECTURES Eighteenth Series SCIENCE, FAITH AND SOCIETY BY MICHAEL POLANYI GEOFFREY CUMBERLEGE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON 1946 CONTENTS L Science and Reality .... 7 II. Authority and Conscience ... 28 III. Dedication or Servitude ... 49 APPENDIX 1. Premisses of Science . . . . 71 2. Significance of New Observations ... 75 3. Correspondence with Observation . . 78 SCIENCE, FAITH AND SOCIETY I SHALL re-examine here the suppositions underlying our belief in science and propose to show that they are more extensive than is usually thought. They will appear to co extend with the entire spiritual foundations of man and to go to the very root of his social existence. Hence, I will urge, our belief in science should be regarded as a token of much wider convictions. I SCIENCE AND REALITY What is the nature of science Given any amount of experience, can scientific propositions be derived from it by the application of some explicit rules of procedure Let us limit ourselves for the sake of simplicity to the exact sciences and conveniently assume that all relevant experience is given us in the form of numerical measurements so that we are presented with a list of figures representing positions, masses, times, velocities, wavelengths, etc., from which we have to derive some mathematical law of nature. Could we do that by the application of definite operations Certainly not. Granted for the sake of argument that we could discover somehow which of the figures can be connected so that one group determines the other there would be an infinite number of mathematical functions available for the representation of the former in terms of the latter. There are many formsof mathematical series such as power series, harmonic series, etc. each of which can be used in an infinite variety of fashions to approxi mate the existing relationship between any given set of numeri cal data to any desired degree. Never yet has a definite rule been laid down by which any particular mathematical function can be recognized, among the infinite number of those offering themselves for choice, as the one which expresses a natural law. It is true that each of the infinite number of available functions will, in general, lead to a different prediction when 8 SCIENCE, FAITH AND SOCIETY applied to new observations, but this does not provide the requisite test for making a selection among them. If we pick out those which predict rightly, we still have an infinite number on our hands. The situation is in fact only changed by the addition of a few more data namely, the predicted data to those from which we had originally started. We are not brought appreciably nearer towards definitely selecting any particular function from the infinite number of those available. Now, I am not suggesting that it is impossible to find natural laws but only that this is not done, and cannot be done, by applying some explicitly known operation to the given evidence of measurements. And to bring my argument a little closer to the actual experience of science, I shall now restate it as follows. We ask Could a mathematical function connecting observable instrument readings ever constitute what we are accustomed to regard as a natural law in science For example, if we were to state our knowledge concerning the path of a planet in these terms That setting certain telescopes at certain angles at certaintimes a luminous disc of a certain size will be observed does that properly express a natural law of planetary motion No it is obvious that such a prediction is not equiva lent to a proposition concerning planetary motion...

Contributor Bio:  Polanyi, Michael Michael Polanyi (1891-1976), was born in Hungary, studied medicine, but devoted himself to research in chemistry. He worked in Germany until Hitler expelled Jews from public positions in 1933, when he went to the University of Manchester as Professor of Physical Chemistry. His books include his magnum opus, Personal Knowledge, as well as Science, Faith, and Society, among others.