Scientism and Values.pdf - Ludwig von Mises Institute

T he Psychopathology of Scientism 215
violence's sake is something new that has been added ... and there
is an increased toleration of brutality and violence, even of the socalled
normal adolescent or person. 36
Apparently when there is an eruption against boredom and
the emptiness of life, crime is one outlet, not in the form of crime
for want or of passion, but for the fun of it. The classical Leopold­
Loeb case characteristically stands at about the beginning of this
era.
Conclusion
The diagnosis of the ills of our society appears clear enough.
The therapy we do not know, and the present author does not
belong to the world-saviors who have invented the nostrum for
curing humanity.
In view of the question of scientism, its basic defect can readily
be summarized. It is the mistaken belief that science, scientific
method, and technology with its achievements for human comfort
cover the whole of human experience and fulfillm,ent. This patent!y
not being the case, and nothing else filling the vacuum, the
scientistic disappointment is the necessary consequence. An intellectual
vacuum being left, it is no wonder that our time of technology
and scientism is also the time of pseudo religions and primitive
superstitions. This is true for the pseudo religions invented
by the founders of positivism and scientism, Comte and Saint­
Simon, as well as for astrology, nationalism, the various ways of
escapism, semi-Christian sects, and others, of our time. Even traditional
religions become pseudo religions when, as stated by Billy
Graham,37
The church in this country has the highest membership it has ever
had, but the country also has the highest crime and divorce rate and
the greatest increase in juvenile delinquency in history.
Or else, as Aldous Huxley has foreseen, the greatest happiness
of the greatest number in a scientistic Brave New World can be