the impact of science + nationalism

Question 1

widespread faith in science

Answer 1

• science impact on sociology has been enormous
• created treatments, transports and communications
• success of science has led to a widespread ‘faith in science’
• enables people to explain, predict and control the world in a way that non-scientific or prescientific belief systems could not do

Question 2

KARL POPPER - science as an open belief system

Answer 2

• science theories are open to scrutiny, criticism and testing
• governed by a principle of falsification: where scientists try to falsify existing theories
• if evidence from an experiment contradicts a theory, it can be disregarded and search for a better explanation can begin
• in science, knowledge-claims live or die by the evidence

Question 3

ROBERT HORTON - religion as a closed belief system

Answer 3

• like POPPER, HORTON sees science as an open belief system - where claims are open to challenge
• religion however, has a closed belief system - it claims to have special knowledge of the absolute truth
• e.g. idea of evolution is denied by many religions who believe in creationism (adam and eve)

Question 4

KARL POLYANI - science as a closed belief system

Answer 4

• POLYANI argues all belief systems reject challenges to their knowledge claims - science is no different
• argues science is as closed as religion
• in 1950 Dr Velikovsky published ‘worlds in collision’ in which he put forward a new theory on the origins of earth
• challenged the most fundamental assumptions of geology, astronomy and biology
• scientists rushed to reject it and a boycott of Velikovsky’s publisher was organised

Question 5

marxist and feminist view on science

Answer 5

• marxism and feminism see scientific knowledge as far from pure truth
• instead, they regard it as serving the interests of dominant groups (ruling class for marxists / men for feminists)
• marxists believe that advances in science has been driven by the need for capitalism for certain types of knowledge
• e.g. lots of scientific research has gone into creating weapons to protect capitalism

Question 6

ideology of nationalism
(+BENEDICT ANDERSON argument)

Answer 6

• nationalism sees nations as real, distinct communities with unique characteristics and a shared history
• every nation should be self-governing
• national loyalty and identity is very important
• BENEDICT ANDERSON argues nation is only an imagined community. although we identify with it, we will never know most of its members

Question 7

marxism and nationalism

Answer 7

• see nationalism as a way to prevent the overthrow of capitalism by dividing the working class
• nationalism encourages workers to believe they have more in common with the capitalists of their own country than with the workers of other countries
• this has enabled the ruling class to persuade the working class to fight wars on their behalf