scientism

philosophy and social science

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July 13, 2026

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Scientism is characterized by an exaggerated trust in the methods of natural science and their application to all areas of inquiry, including philosophy and the social sciences. It involves attitudes and methods typical of natural scientists.1

While the social sciences aim to accumulate objective knowledge, their focus can shift in response to societal interests, potentially limiting their objectivity compared to exact sciences. The history of scientific theories also reveals discontinuities, and there isn't a straightforward path from data to theory. Despite these challenges, scientific assertions are subject to revision, but empirical laws maintain relative stability.23

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existentialism
Nature of existentialist thought and manner
…any form of objectivism or scientism, since those approaches stress the crass reality of external fact. Third, existentialism is opposed to any form of necessitarianism; for existence is constituted by possibilities from among which the individual may choose and through which he can project himself. And, finally, with respect to…
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…any form of objectivism or scientism, since those approaches stress the crass reality of external fact. Third, existentialism is opposed to any form of necessitarianism; for existence is constituted by possibilities from among which the individual may choose and through which he can project himself. And, finally, with respect to…
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Gustave Flaubert
Later years of Gustave Flaubert
In fact it is “scientism” (and by analogy the confusion of doctrines) that Flaubert is arraigning—i.e., the practice of taking science out of its own domain, of confusing efficient and final causes, and of convincing oneself that one understands fundamentals when one has not even grasped the superficial phenomena.…
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In fact it is “scientism” (and by analogy the confusion of doctrines) that Flaubert is arraigning—i.e., the practice of taking science out of its own domain, of confusing efficient and final causes, and of convincing oneself that one understands fundamentals when one has not even grasped the superficial phenomena.…
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Roman Catholicism
The content of revelation
centuries known as the Enlightenment, scientism, and historicism. The Roman Catholic Church perceived these movements as threats to the idea of a sacred revelation, because they appeared to claim that human reason had no frontiers or that human reason had demonstrated that revelation was historically false or unfounded or that…
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centuries known as the Enlightenment, scientism, and historicism. The Roman Catholic Church perceived these movements as threats to the idea of a sacred revelation, because they appeared to claim that human reason had no frontiers or that human reason had demonstrated that revelation was historically false or unfounded or that…
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