*113132*
Psychology
and Sociology
Ershova I.F., Associate Professor
of Philosophy
South-Russia State University of
Economics and Services, Russia
Religion and
science in modern society
Religion,
philosophy, science of philosophy are the three main driving forces of human
civilization, which is always striving toward the only goal - finding the
perfect good for a person. At the moment there is no need to speak about the
results of this search: the world is on the verge of a global crisis that
threatens to destroy not only the achievements of scientific and technical
progress, but the life itself. Restoring the former original harmony and the relationship
between religious, philosophical and scientific vision of the world is not just
an important problem but for some reasons must be classified as the most vital.
Religion
deals with some issues of education and the prospects for moral regeneration of
the society, and even issues of business ethics. The task of rethinking the
central categories and concepts of philosophy of religion and religious studies
is being put forward today. The formula “knowledge is the opposite of faith” is
still alive. Meanwhile, science is impossible without faith. Religion, in turn,
gives knowledge (unscientific, extra-scientific, but not necessarily
anti-scientific) which is not less valuable than that obtained by means of
science.
The word
“science” in its modern sense means a form of knowledge, which manages without
the supposition of the existence of God as a mystical, otherworldly, unknowable
ultimate Beginning.
Science, in
the end, sees the good in the maximum knowledge of the world in all its
dimensions in order to achieve full power over it, which should make a person
actually an omnipotent deity in this world.
Philosophy
has always seen the good of the knowledge of the Truth in dealing with the
basic question of life - its meaning and its good - it is often either blended
or separated with theology, giving rise to new systems.
Religion (in
this case we are talking about the Orthodox Church), which is neither a
science, because the object of its cognition is a completely different world -
the spiritual world, nor philosophy, since the essence of religion is in
particular spiritual, not a rational cognition of God. The ideal good proposed
by the Orthodoxy, which consists in the knowledge of God, that is, assimilation
with Him, and through this - in unity with Him, meets the primary objectives of
human strivings, since it is obvious that reliable knowledge of the Truth (the
goal of philosophy) and the created world (the goal of science) is possible
only through the knowledge of Jehovah, that is God.
This good is
not only the principal but the only purpose of human life according to the
Orthodox learning. Orthodoxy meets the essential needs of a person; gives a
concrete and comprehensive answer to the question about the sense and purpose
of their life: the eternal being of an individual in unity with God. At the
same time achieving this goal does not ignore any real human needs and the real
values of life. What would Orthodoxy bring to philosophy and science? First of all:
-a clear
focus and ultimate meaning of scientific research and philosophical studies;
-awareness of
the need and priority of the spiritual and moral criteria in determining the
benefit (truth) of all educational, research and creative activities;
-would find a
more appropriate and morally justifiable directions of scientific,
philosophical and humanitarian education and resolving one of the major
problems - the correlative significance of religion, philosophy and science in
human life and activities;
-would play a
huge role in creating a sensible atmosphere in the society, its most important
area of life - the spiritual and intellectual one.
The isolation
of science and philosophy as highly social realities of the Orthodoxy
inevitably leads to the destruction of the integrity and multi-dimension of the
vision of the world, and the person themselves, which leads, as our history
shows, to the most unfortunate consequences. [1].
Traditional
science considers the discovery of the laws governing the universe as the main
task of the knowledge. The ultimate goal of the historical process is the
conquest of nature by a person solved its laws. This is the basic “creed” of
traditional science.
Rational
thinking required only an accurate description and measurement. Science lost
its soul. Science really became a productive force, but stopped seeking the
Truth. Dismal rationalism, trying to formalize everything, to translate into a
dead language of algorithms, made the Truth unattractive.
Religion is
mankind’s attempt to clearly and fully understand these values and goals and to
strengthen and expand their influence. If we comprehend religion and science in
accordance with these definitions, the conflict between them is impossible. In
science we can only assure ourselves of what there is, but not of what there
should be. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human
thoughts and behavior. It can not reasonably talk about facts and relationships
between them. In this interpretation the conflicts of religion and science
well-known in the past should be attributed to the inability to understand the
situation described.
If the
purpose of religion is to liberate the mankind from the bondage of egocentric
ambitions, desires and fears as much as possible, scientific reasoning can help
religion in one more respect. While it is true that the goal of science is the
discovery of rules which allow you to find the connection between the facts and
to predict them, it is not its only goal. It also seeks to reduce the amount of
these connections to the minimum number of independent conceptual elements.
By
understanding a person gets a far-reaching liberation from the chains of
personal hopes and desires, and thus finds the modest position of the brain in
relation to the grandeur of the reason personified in existence, which in its
fathomless depths is inaccessible to a person. This position, however, as we
think, is religious in the highest meaning of the word. And science not only
purifies the religious motivations of the dross of anthropomorphism but also
contributes to a religious spiritualization of our understanding of life.
But currently
there are sufficient conditions for the development of a fruitful dialogue
between the three branches of the human spirit. Science is not only a reality
opposed to religion: it is a reality contributing to the development of
religion, because religion like science is one of the fundamental human
experiences. [2]
In terms of
conventional science the Universe is a closed, self-organizing and
self-regulating system in which all the processes occurring in it are
completely algorithmic in nature, are “on their own” without any outside
interference and can be described by dynamical and statistical laws. In other
words the Universe is a world determined by dynamical and statistical laws, and
only by them, essentially devoid of anything external; this is a world, a
particle of which we are, a world we are trying to understand.
This world,
by virtue of some yet unknown laws, creates itself, and none of outsiders
interferes with it and watches it neither compassionately nor indifferently.
And a person,
being a “body of self-discovery of the world” according to the only idea that
they are a particle of this world is aware of their role as a creator and aims
to improve the world.
In the XXI
century many people realize that the time and resources of the opposition
between science and religion have been exhausted.
Today, their
union serves as a reality, and the first step in this direction - the
recognition that science is not the only source of our knowledge about the
World, that the experienced knowledge and spiritual insight, spiritual
experience, constitutes a single process of understanding the World.
The main task
of cognition is the apprehension of the mystery of Being, the search for a
single and absolute Truth. Implementation of this task is possible only when
there is an effective combination of intellect and revelation. True knowledge,
giving preference to the synthesis of the analysis tends to combine what at
first glance seems incompatible. [3].
The real
purpose of the historical process means not only the conquer of nature, but
also the process of human struggle for the finding, adoption and development of
spiritual, social, moral, behavioral, intellectual, aesthetic values, the agony
of the embodiment of the concepts of honor, conscience, justice, charity,
creativity - all those things which make a person humane.
Religion is
not just a collection of separate elements, which can be rationally
generalized; it is first of all a private, inner experience of God in which
these elements obtain their specifically “religious” meaning.
The spiritual
world of a person, representing a new ideal essence, defines the fundamental
difference between the humanities and natural sciences and, figuratively speaking,
occupies the third floor in a hierarchically organized World of higher reality.
Sensory experience and rationalistic methods of knowledge do not allow for an
understanding of the human phenomenon.
The meaning
of human existence is much deeper and more interesting than the survival and
self-service. A person comes into this world to work, but not only to increase
their wealth and to enjoy their intellectual or other abilities. A person comes
into this world to work on improving themselves and the world. People must
reveal their creative nature, understand themselves and justify their calling -
to become an assistant of God in his peacemaking.
From a
religious point of view the main goal of people is to understand the idea of
the Creator - His plan, His project and to cooperate with Him in improving the
world according to His overall plan. Completeness of Being can only be in unity
with the source of Being.
All world
religions are true, because they contain the correctly predicted existence of a
Supreme Being. But the biblical Revelation completed in Christ is like a
counter-movement of the Creator to us.
Religion is a
special form of the relations of a person to God, a joint product of Divine
Revelation and human creativity.
Science and
religion exist objectively, independently of the consciousness and feelings of
people. As material objects are perceived by our senses, they are described in
a natural language. To describe the ideal and abstract prototypes we require
special languages.
Science is a
sphere of human activity, the main function of which is the development and
systematization of important knowledge of reality. The position of science in
the society is largely dependent on the level of mass consciousness, and how
well it performs social functions. The role of religion in public life can not
be evaluated unambiguously. On the one hand it is important to emphasize the
positive impact that is expressed in strengthening and supporting of social
interaction and consensus and cooperation among people.
In addition,
the reference to religion gives people a powerful psychological support, helps
to solve their internal psychological problems, consoling and pacifying them.
Religious organizations tend to deal with such acute problems of the society as
drug addiction, alcoholism, support the poor and vulnerable sections of the
population.
Religion
develops the rules of behavior prescribed by God, and secures them in moral and
religious precepts. A believer hopes for a reward from God for the proper
performance of His moral requirements and has a fear for their future if they
go back on the moral norms or disregard them.
References
1.
Osipov, A.I. Religion, philosophy and science on the threshold of the III
millennium - http://azbyka.ru/vera_i_neverie/nauka_i_religiya/1g27-all.shtml
2.
Nikitich L.A. Philosophy. Philosophy and science: a textbook for higher
schools, Moscow: UNITY-DANA, 2002.Ch.30., P.491-496
3.
Kulakov, Y.I. Synthesis of Science of Religion / / Questions of
Philosophy.-1999. - ¹ 2 - P.144