Science, a religion?
So I saw this earlier post...
http://community.livejournal.com/philosophy/1375619.html
which reminded me of this question:
Is science a religion? Why or Why not?
My ethics teacher brought up this topic on the discussion of Determinism and Indeterminism; He stated that like religion, some people claim that science contains ALL the answers. And some scientists teach that everything in nature is controllable by natural/scientific laws (similiar to Holbach's reasoning in The Systems Of Nature). But that's an axiom and cannot be proven.
When I first heard my teacher state this, I immediately was thinking that science doesn't contain ALL the answers. That's not the point in science. It's the fact that we don't have the answers that science exists. Science is the constant, if not neverending, search for understanding in how the universe works around us and answers to questions we have. It's more of a process then a religious text that contains EVERYTHING necessary to live a good life - something religions have. And I don't think the claim that EVERYTHING in nature is controlled by scientific laws is set in stone to all scientific material. I think of it more as of a scientific 'billboard' perse, or maybe 'fax machine', with new posters (or faxes) being sent out - stating what new aspect of nature we have discovered is found to be controlled by scientific laws.
So what do you have to say on this subject?
http://community.livejournal.com/philosophy/1375619.html
which reminded me of this question:
Is science a religion? Why or Why not?
My ethics teacher brought up this topic on the discussion of Determinism and Indeterminism; He stated that like religion, some people claim that science contains ALL the answers. And some scientists teach that everything in nature is controllable by natural/scientific laws (similiar to Holbach's reasoning in The Systems Of Nature). But that's an axiom and cannot be proven.
When I first heard my teacher state this, I immediately was thinking that science doesn't contain ALL the answers. That's not the point in science. It's the fact that we don't have the answers that science exists. Science is the constant, if not neverending, search for understanding in how the universe works around us and answers to questions we have. It's more of a process then a religious text that contains EVERYTHING necessary to live a good life - something religions have. And I don't think the claim that EVERYTHING in nature is controlled by scientific laws is set in stone to all scientific material. I think of it more as of a scientific 'billboard' perse, or maybe 'fax machine', with new posters (or faxes) being sent out - stating what new aspect of nature we have discovered is found to be controlled by scientific laws.
So what do you have to say on this subject?