Science Forums 2

[coberst]

Kickassclown

I think you are exactly on the mark.


Within the Enlightenment Rousseau’s voice appeared as the first great voice directed at Newtonianism’s objective science. This voice directed attention from an objective science wherein sapiens were relegated to a neutral role to one wherein wo/man was central in a subjective value science. This was to be a science that directly advances human well being.

We move from consideration of a concept of science that alienated men and women, to one that gave us a new vision of science; a value science. Science guided by an ideal-type paradigm that could garner allegiance faced a formidable task. “How can we get agreement on unfinished data, when the data refer to changing society and man himself? When man is the subject matter of his science, he is reluctant to act on any but the most supremely compelling theory.”

The concept of alienation holds up for view the bind placed on women and men when society itself imprisons their free human energies. Alienation is the only concept that can help us comprehend the need for a liberating social change. This is “the guardian of sacred subjectivity in a mechanical, objective world.”

The first imperative for comprehending Becker’s ideas regarding a science of man is to agree that alienation is a value problem. “All fact is two faced”, as Dewey would say “it is cosmos examined by a speck in the cosmos”. “In the science of man based on the concept of alienation, this understanding would be frank and explicit. We would posit and ideal model of man, and propose the kind of changes we would need to help further this ideal; and then we would gather empirical data and measure them against he ideal.” Thereby the value aspect of our science of man would be foremost in front of us at all times.

As a definition of ‘alienation’ the dictionary uses such similes as “strange”, “different”, “incongruous”, “owing different allegiances”, and “properly therefore belonging to another”, “not of our type”. “The judgment of “our type” and “not belonging” is a mixture of both. Since this is the case, we would always have to get agreement, in our science both on what we want to promote and on the supporting objective data that we gather.” The type of alienation Becker speaks of is that which we all tacitly (implied but not expressed) agree is dehumanizing.