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21 Sep 2019, 23:15
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An effort should be made to dispel the
misunderstandings that still prevent the much-needed
synthesis and mutual supplementation of science and
the humanities. This reconciliation should not be too
difficult once it is recognized that the separation is
primarily the result of a basic misunderstanding of the
philosophical foundations of both science and the
humanities.
Some humanists still identify science with an
absurd mechanistic reductionism. There are many who
feel that the scientist is interested in nothing more than
“bodies in motion,” in the strictly mathematical,
physical, and chemical laws that govern the material
world. This is the caricature of science drawn by
representatives of the humanities who are ignorant of
the nature of modern science and also of the scientific
outlook in philosophy. For example, it is claimed that
science either ignores or explains away the most
essential human values. Those who believe this also
assert that there are aspects of the human mind,
manifest especially in the domains of morality,
religion, and the arts, that contain an irreducible
spiritual element and for that reason can never be
adequately explained by science.
Some scientists, on the other hand, claim that the
humanist is interested in nothing more than emotion
and sentiment, exhibiting the vagrant fancies of an
undisciplined mind. To such men and women the
humanities are useless because they serve no immediate
and technological function for the practical survival
of human society in the material world. Such
pragmatists believe that the areas of morality,
religion, and the arts should have only a secondary
importance in people’s lives.
Thus there are misconceptions among humanists
and scientists alike that are in need of correction. This
correction leads to a much more acceptable position
that could be called “scientific humanism,” attempting
as it does to combine the common elements of both
disciplines. Both science and the humanities attempt to
describe and explain. It is true that they begin their
descriptions and explanations at widely separated
points, but the objectives remain the same: a clearer
understanding of people and their world. In achieving
this understanding, science in fact does not depend
exclusively on measurable data, and the humanities in
fact profit from attempts at controlled evaluation.
Scientific humanism can combine the scientific
attitude with an active interest in the whole scale of
human values. If uninformed persons insist on viewing
science as only materialistic and the humanities as
only idealistic, a fruitful collaboration of both fields is
unlikely. The combination of science and the
humanities is, however, possible, even probable, if we
begin by noting their common objectives, rather than
seeing only their different means.
Which one of the following best describes the main
idea of the passage?
(A) Scientists’ failure to understand humanists
hinders collaborations between the two
groups.
(B) The materialism of science and the idealism of
the humanities have both been beneficial to
modern society.
(C) Technological development will cease if science
and the humanities remain at odds with each
other.
(D) The current relationship between science and
the humanities is less cooperative than their
relationship once was.
(E) A synthesis of science and the humanities is
possible and much-needed.
7. Which one of the following would the author be
most likely to characterize as an example of a
misunderstanding of science by a humanist?
(A) Science encourages the view that emotions are
inexplicable.
(B) Science arises out of practical needs but serves
other needs as well.
(C) Science depends exclusively on measurable
data to support its claims.
(D) Science recognizes an irreducible spiritual
element that makes the arts inexplicable.
(E) Science encourages the use of description in
the study of human values.
8. It can be inferred from the passage that the author
would be most likely to agree with which one of the
following statements?
(A) Scientific humanism is characterized by the
extension of description and explanation
from science to the humanities.
(B) A clearer understanding of people is an
objective of humanists that scientists have not
yet come to share.
(C) Controlled measures of aesthetic experience
are of little use in the study of the humanities.
(D) Humanists have profited from using methods
generally considered useful primarily to
scientists.
(E) Fruitful collaboration between scientists and
humanists is unlikely to become more
common.
misunderstandings that still prevent the much-needed
synthesis and mutual supplementation of science and
the humanities. This reconciliation should not be too
difficult once it is recognized that the separation is
primarily the result of a basic misunderstanding of the
philosophical foundations of both science and the
humanities.
Some humanists still identify science with an
absurd mechanistic reductionism. There are many who
feel that the scientist is interested in nothing more than
“bodies in motion,” in the strictly mathematical,
physical, and chemical laws that govern the material
world. This is the caricature of science drawn by
representatives of the humanities who are ignorant of
the nature of modern science and also of the scientific
outlook in philosophy. For example, it is claimed that
science either ignores or explains away the most
essential human values. Those who believe this also
assert that there are aspects of the human mind,
manifest especially in the domains of morality,
religion, and the arts, that contain an irreducible
spiritual element and for that reason can never be
adequately explained by science.
Some scientists, on the other hand, claim that the
humanist is interested in nothing more than emotion
and sentiment, exhibiting the vagrant fancies of an
undisciplined mind. To such men and women the
humanities are useless because they serve no immediate
and technological function for the practical survival
of human society in the material world. Such
pragmatists believe that the areas of morality,
religion, and the arts should have only a secondary
importance in people’s lives.
Thus there are misconceptions among humanists
and scientists alike that are in need of correction. This
correction leads to a much more acceptable position
that could be called “scientific humanism,” attempting
as it does to combine the common elements of both
disciplines. Both science and the humanities attempt to
describe and explain. It is true that they begin their
descriptions and explanations at widely separated
points, but the objectives remain the same: a clearer
understanding of people and their world. In achieving
this understanding, science in fact does not depend
exclusively on measurable data, and the humanities in
fact profit from attempts at controlled evaluation.
Scientific humanism can combine the scientific
attitude with an active interest in the whole scale of
human values. If uninformed persons insist on viewing
science as only materialistic and the humanities as
only idealistic, a fruitful collaboration of both fields is
unlikely. The combination of science and the
humanities is, however, possible, even probable, if we
begin by noting their common objectives, rather than
seeing only their different means.
Which one of the following best describes the main
idea of the passage?
(A) Scientists’ failure to understand humanists
hinders collaborations between the two
groups.
(B) The materialism of science and the idealism of
the humanities have both been beneficial to
modern society.
(C) Technological development will cease if science
and the humanities remain at odds with each
other.
(D) The current relationship between science and
the humanities is less cooperative than their
relationship once was.
(E) A synthesis of science and the humanities is
possible and much-needed.
7. Which one of the following would the author be
most likely to characterize as an example of a
misunderstanding of science by a humanist?
(A) Science encourages the view that emotions are
inexplicable.
(B) Science arises out of practical needs but serves
other needs as well.
(C) Science depends exclusively on measurable
data to support its claims.
(D) Science recognizes an irreducible spiritual
element that makes the arts inexplicable.
(E) Science encourages the use of description in
the study of human values.
8. It can be inferred from the passage that the author
would be most likely to agree with which one of the
following statements?
(A) Scientific humanism is characterized by the
extension of description and explanation
from science to the humanities.
(B) A clearer understanding of people is an
objective of humanists that scientists have not
yet come to share.
(C) Controlled measures of aesthetic experience
are of little use in the study of the humanities.
(D) Humanists have profited from using methods
generally considered useful primarily to
scientists.
(E) Fruitful collaboration between scientists and
humanists is unlikely to become more
common.
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