Review of Wolfgang Smith, _Cosmos and Transcendence_This is a critique of scientism, which might be defined as the belief that only the investigational methods used in the natural sciences can lead to genuine knowledge. The author approaches the topic ultimately from the standpoint of classical Christianity, although it stands alone as a critique of contemporary metaphysical assumptions.
Only the first three chapters are about scientistic metaphysics properly speaking and I will only discuss those. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 deal with the influences of Darwin, Freud and Jung respectively. The final Chapter 7 is a summing up and a critique of the secular concept of progress.
Chapter 1. Although there is only one universe, which we apprehend by means of our mental concepts or ideas, the modern world is in the grip of a Cartesian-Newtonian bifurcation (Whitehead's term) between primary qualities (susceptible to measurement and calculation - extension and number) and secondary qualities (all else). The bifurcation survived even Kant; eventually the primary qualities came to be seen as "the physical universe" - reality itself. (In order to understand Smith's claim that even after Kant the basis of the bifurcation remained, we have to say something like this: the basis of the bifurcation is the idea that we perceive our concepts, and that this perception is the starting point in examining the universe: epistemology precedes ontology.)
Chapter 2. This chapter traces in detail the development of the above-mentioned bifurcation. A revival of platonic scholarship in the 15th century (Marcilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola) led to a new interest in number and harmony. Copernicus (16th century) came under the influence of this school. Kepler (16th-17th centuries) was still looking for harmonies. Galileo developed a new non-platonic track: terrestrial mechanism. From the 14th century on there had been an obsession with clockwork. Mechanism was transferred from the earth to the heavens: the clockwork universe dovetailed nicely with mathematical calculation.
According to Smith, it was Galileo who first broached the bifurcation (p 28; no reference is given), but it was Descartes who articulated it by distinguishing between res extensa and res cogitans. What was tractable by calculation and measurement was deemed scientifically tractable and became the objective world. The method created its own subject matter, res extensa. This legacy was taken over by Newton and transmitted to the scientific world. British thinkers eventually rejected the reality of res cogitans as part of the universe of science.
The problems generated by the new way of thinking were seen already by Descartes, and taken up by a number of important philosophers including Husserl and Whitehead. Meanwhile the 19th-century concept of a mechanical universe has been replaced by relativity and quantum physics. There is an excellent quote from Whitehead on how we now have (as least in the popular mind) a Newtonian metaphysics combined with 20th-century physics - "a complete muddle." (p. 36)
What we have more recently is a more humble use of "models" and a certain pragmatism. But, says Smith, "science" still makes "vast claims." E.g., cosmology. And these still rest on the old Newtonian foundations. Why? Because we still have the old "physical universe" (at least in the popular lay mind and in the popular scientific mind).
Chapter 3. This chapter deals with important positive aspects of the Medieval European worldview that have been lost. Somehow, Christians like Descartes and Newton arrived at a totally transcendent God, cutting themselves off from theology. Since a totally transcendent God could have little to do with the world of men at all, let alone their scientific researches, even that concept of deity eventually gave way. This was nothing new; see p. 45 for great quote from Plotinus - 3rd century.
Modern materialists have lost the concept of unity in multiplicity, which, ironically, it is the goal of science to discover.
The material universe, or cosmos, is, like anything else, defined in part by what it excludes. This boundedness involves three fundamental ideas: (i) a principle of determination, or that which imposes bounds - God; (ii) a potential recipient of bounds, or that which is subject to limitations - materia prima; and (iii) the bound itself, that which is imposed and received - form. This scheme is based on the analogy of geometry, and is found in the major metaphysical traditions of mankind.
Existing geometric constructions presuppose ideal geometric constructions. All metaphysical traditions have "affirmed a transcendent metaphysical reality that reflects itself in created forms." (p. 57) It is important to see that this doctrine "is necessarily analogical." One does not seek the ideal forms; one seeks the realities behind them. This is represented in Christianity by the Divine Word.
"The temporal moment constitutes a universal cosmic bound." (p. 61) In the Newtonian worldview time consists of moments and space consists of points. Relativity theory provides a partial antidote to these mistaken metaphysical views. (Smith has a separate book on QM, _The Quantum Enigma_.) Eternity is the "now" that stands still, not "endless duration." "The world moves, while the `now' stands still." (p. 64) It can be found at the center of our being. Christianity, with its central abstract theme that the smallest is the greatest, reflects this reality in manifold ways.
I like the book very much. After reading it one might well start on Edwin Arthur Burtt's classic, _The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science_ (rev. ed., 1952).
Ken Miner
