Preparing for the Miraculous

124 eleven talksvalidation of matter or, in other words, of that which couldbe perceived by the senses, would gradually lead to distrustand doubt of the non-material, of religion (more specificallyCatholic authoritarianism), and ultimately of God.The principle of the sole validity of matter is still the causeof widespread dispute among philosophers, theologians,and people living the spiritual life.2. Science has no grasp of wholes, but reduces all things toparts consisting of smaller parts consisting of still smaller parts.This is called reductionism. The reason of its central utilityin science is, again, that science is an activity of the mind,and that the mind cannot handle wholes. Sri Aurobindohas explained this aspect of the mind quite clearly on manyoccasions. Its way of functioning is analytic or dividing (i.e.reductionist) because “it can only know by separation anddistinction, and has at the most a vague and secondary apprehensionof unity and infinity – for though it can synthesizeits divisions, it cannot arrive at a true totality.” 8 Nonethelessthe biologist Richard Lewontin warns: “Whateverthe faults of reductionism, we have accomplished a greatdeal by employing reductionism as a methodological strategy.”It is, after all, reductionist science that has made ourmodern world. Yet the increasing awareness that we needmuch more comprehensive [i.e. holistic] and much less reductionistunderstanding may be a sign of “a new sort ofscience that is being forged at the moment.”3. All changes in matter are brought about by external forces.This excludes any kind of internal movement or life.The history of the formulation of the laws of motion isfascinating, if only because of the difficulties Galileo andhis predecessors had to reckon with. The principle of theexternal forces is closely connected with the principle ofthe exclusivity of matter. Here again a drastic cut is made8 Sri Aurobindo: The Life Divine, p. 133.