|
|
The Complementary Nature of Religion and Science
| Article
# : |
10092 |
|
|
Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
|
| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1986 |
3,328 Words |
| Author
: |
Miguel R. Covian
|
Man's knowledge is based not only on perceiving phenomena but on discovering their reason for being, the "why" of their existence. Common knowledge only perceives and records what is happening. When man takes a step forward looking for the cause of these phenomena, then scientific knowledge, science, comes into being. Science will try to establish general principles determining and regulating the mutual connections between types of sensory experience, between phenomena occurring in the space-time unit. Its primary aim is not the practical usefulness of its findings; this end belongs to technology, which applies scientific knowledge.
Science does not preoccupy itself with the essence of things, but rather with the ties between their sensory manifestations (phenomena) which it attempts to organize in a mathematical way. Sensory perception does not capture the qualities of things in their essence, but rather through the action they have no sensory organs. Without concern, sensory perception eliminates being or essence, which it considers to be meaningless. The senses and technical devices almost seem to replace intelligence in the "seeing" function, while intelligence remains outside the sensing, only manipulating the information it receives, transforming it into signals which express what was "seen".
Two Types of Knowledge
There are two ways of analyzing perceptive reality: a) empirically (experimental sciences), b) ontologically (philosophy). In other words, two types of knowledge converge and meet in front of a material object: sensory knowledge, and intellectual knowledge. Intellectual knowledge strives for an ascending, or ontological solution, utilizing sensory knowledge for its purpose. Sensory knowledge (experimental) looks for a descending solution, with no reference to essence, serving what is perceptible, observable, and, especially, measurable. Man's senses indicate a quality, but without saying what it is. This is of no interest to them. They know what a quality is only in terms of the material action it has on them. What the essence of this quality is, they do not know. What a quality is in essence and not just in its action on a sensory organ, continues to be a mystery for our spirit and senses.
To sum up, there are two types of conceptual analyses of perceptible reality: one, of an ontological nature, which searches for intelligible essence, and the other, of an empirical or space-time nature, oriented towards what is sensorily observable or measurable. The attempt to verify reality in a sensory and measuring way in the experimental sciences plays the same role as the pursuit of essence for the philosopher.
The science of phenomena, an inductive science of verification and proof, is, by virtue of its object and degree of abstraction (first degree), the most materialistic of all, while the sciences with a higher degree of abstraction and a lesser concern with the material (Mathematics and Philosophy) are deductive. It should be pointed out that experimental science, in its search for causal connections, does not indicate to man how he should behave, nor does it indicate the ethical principles that should govern his activities. It does not deal with aims and values.
There is another type of knowledge which is different from those already mentioned and is characteristic of religion; the knowledge achieved
...
Read Full Article
|
|
