STS

Meliza Joy R.
Cabico
2BSA-5
Film Title: The Magician's Twin C.S Lewis and the Case Against Scientism
1. Scientism is the belief that science is all the real knowledge there is. I think scientism is at the
heart of the question of the relationship between science and Christianity or science and
religious faith.
A. Richard Olson, a historian of science who has written extensively on the conflict of science and
traditional approaches, explores the idea of scientism and its implications in the twentieth
century. Specifically, the book is about technocracy and technocrats who believe that individuals
with specific technical and scientific knowledge should make the key decisions in all aspects of
society. He follows sociologist Robert Putnam's defining characteristics: technology is far
superior to politics, politics and especially democracy are incompetent ways of decision making,
conflict and ideology are unnecessary impediments to optimal production, and distribution of
income is unimportant. While many monographs and articles have been written on aspects of
the subject, Olson claims his is the first to view the subject as a whole.
The ideology of technocracy begins with American engineer Frederick Taylor at the turn of the
century. Taylor insisted that engineers control all parts of the industrial process, including
selecting individuals for particular positions and through time-motion studies determining the
one correct way each task would be done. Both ownership and unions would relinquish their
roles to the truly knowledgeable engineers, and craft traditions would be eliminated.
B. Lewis was not anti-science; he was anti-scientism, the belief that modern science supplies the
only reliable method of knowledge. Lewis and these authors make a strong case that there is a
long and important list of crucial values (including truth, meaning, purpose, morality,
freedom/dignity and religious faith) that are the necessary presuppositions for science to be an
adequate and ultimate asset. Thus, the book is especially important for Roman Catholic,
Orthodox and Protestant Christians. It points to the battle lines in the science, faith and society
debate that in the end is a matter of life and death.”
2. Science gives us greater control over our lives. Our lives are significantly easier because of
scientific advances. We can travel and communicate more easily, and modern medicine has
allowed us to live longer and healthier lives. Because of all these advances, we have more
control over our fate. Science has made the quality of life increase dramatically in our lifetimes.
3. Many people think that science is just another religion, no better than their own. Their
reasoning is apparently something along these lines: “Beliefs about the unseen world are based
entirely on received truth—truth that is known to be right because it is felt to be right. All and
only religions offer an opinion about the unseen world. Science offers such an opinion. So
science is a religion.” (For those interested in the technical, this argument is valid, so if its
premises are true, so is its conclusion. The second premise is false, however.)
4. C.S. Lewis claimed that science has made us more gullible. But how can this happen if science
is based on empirical facts?
West: Lewis observed that many non-scientists simply checked their critical faculties at the door
when they heard claims made in the name of science. People who didn’t think we could know
anything with confidence about historical figures like Julius Caesar or Napoleon because they
lived such a long time ago had no problem accepting the most outlandish claims made about
“pre-historic” man, because the latter claims were dressed up as science. Lewis was concerned
that this kind of blind deference to scientific authority opened the door to tyranny. That’s one of
the reasons it’s so concerning today when people are routinely attacked as “anti-science” just for
raising thoughtful questions about claims made in the name of science. If we want to avoid the
abuse of science, we need to encourage that kind of questioning, not suppress it.
5. The powers of science are morally neutral — as easily used for bad purposes as good ones. In
the excitement of discovery, we must never forget that mankind is defined not by intelligence
alone, but by conscience. Even the most noble ends do not justify every means.
6. THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN is a must-see trilogy of short programs by the Discovery Institute
applying some brilliant insights and arguments from C.S. Lewis to expose the fallacies of
scientism and evolution and to promote the reasonableness of Intelligent Design. Based on a
book of essays, THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN is a very good series, done on a small budget that shows
real science points to the God of the Universe.

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