Programska knjižica - Hrvatsko filozofsko društvo

FRANCIS BRASSARD
Dubrovnik, Croatia /
Dubrovnik, Hrvatska
IF BOŠKOVIĆ HAD NOT BEEN A JESUIT:
ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE
AND CREATIVITY IN SCIENCE
This paper is an attempt to understand the relationship between a person’s
creativity and the culture in which he evolved. In the case of Ruđer Bošković,
it has been at times hinted that the fact that he was a Jesuit or a Catholic priest,
obliged to uphold the Church’s views, has somehow put him at a disadvantage
with regards to his ability to explore new scientific ideas. This view presupposes
a qualitative difference between two distinct approaches to scientific
discovery: the first entirely rests on observation, experimentation, and critical
stance towards received ideas, especially religious dogmas, and the second
tries to reconcile metaphysical ideas with one’s observations of the world. According
to this view, the second approach is not acceptable as it is built on a
priori principles that have not been validated by objective criteria.
Against this view, this paper argues that Bošković’s religious culture, despite
some of its prejudices with regard to certain scientific questions, still
provided favorable conditions for his scientific activity including discoveries
in different sciences. What these conditions are and how they affect the process
of creativity in sciences are the two questions this paper specifically seeks to
elucidate. Based on the cognitive model suggested by Michael Polanyi and
the Buddhist understanding of the process of spiritual transformation, it will
be possible to see that commitment to metaphysical ideas is not an obstacle to
scientific discovery.
On the contrary, by relativizing the significance of sense experiences, it
provides a greater cognitive flexibility, thus enhancing the creative process.
It will also be argued, based of the experience of such scientific figures as
Galileo, Poincaré, and Einstein, that this ‘contemplative’ approach to scientific
discovery, which appears to have been adopted by Bošković as well, contains
its own criteria of validation, criteria that are anchored in a subjective experience
of reality.
Key words: scientific discovery, creativity, cognitive psychology, religious culture,
dogmas
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