Cosmos and Transcendence: Breaking Through the Barrier of Scientistic Belief

by Wolfgang Smith

In the present work, Wolfgang Smith presents an insider's critique of the scientific world-view based upon the sharp but often overlooked distinction between scientific truth and scientistic faith. With elegance and clarity he demonstrates that major tenets promulgated in the name of Science are not in fact scientific truths but rather scientistic speculations - for which there is no evidence at all. Step by step the reader is led to the astonishing realization that the specifically 'modern' world is based intellectually upon nothing more substantial than a syndrome of Promethean myths. But this is only half of what the book accomplishes. Its primary contribution is to recover and reaffirm the deep metaphysical and religious insights that have come down to us through the teachings of Christianity. And herein lies the true worth of this remarkable having broken the grip of scientistic presuppositions, the author succeeds admirably in bringing to view great truths that had long been obscured.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Theology, Metaphysics

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Wolfgang Smith is a scholar and researcher in the fields of mathematics and physics, but is also a writer on theology, metaphysics, and religion. Because of his unusual qualifications in both scientific and theological disciplines, he is able to write with great authority on many topics of concern to religious and scientific scholars today. He has published extensively on mathematical topics relating to algebraic and differential topology. However, ever since his youth, Smith has had a deep interest in metaphysics and theology. Early on, he acquired a taste for Plato and the neoplatonists, and traveled in India to gain acquaintance with the Vedantic tradition. Later he devoted himself to the study of theology, and began his career as a Catholic metaphysical author.

Reviews

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. Poking holes through the limits of Newtonian physics (which Newton himself acknowledged, as he notes), Cartesian and Kantian epistemology, the consequences of the loss of the Ptolemaic model, evolution (but without sounding like a Young Earth Creationist and also showing that Darwin knew how fragile his own theory was, given the lack of fossil evidence that would join the dots entirely, along with other flaws) and modern psychology (especially Jung and Freud).

Science is a way to know the world according to reason, but that must acknowledge the limits of its approach, namely, depending on an observer and therefore not being purely objective. Many scientists are humble enough to acknowledge that science relies on models that need fixing, because of these limitaitons, partly based on incomplete or altogether wrong metaphysical assumptions.

This is very enlightening and I don't think you require an extensive philosophical vocabulary, but it could help you. Same with the science aspects, being a literature and theology major and without experience of physics outside high school, I expected this to be hard, but it wasn't so.

Scientism is the cult of ideas just because they seem scientifically backed, this is evident with Jungianism, which is little more than a Gnostic cult, carefully disguised in "scientific jargon". In the wake of motivational speakers with a psychological twist being hailed as the ones to fix this generations' crisis (yes, you know I'm talking about Jordan Peterson), to remember that Jung is as scientific as a Tarot cards' reader or an astrologist is sobering to say the least.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Another sword into the heart of the Dragon.

[Justin Myk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a MUST READ. This book can be summarized as a presuppositional critique of modernist scientific dogmatism (or what can be called scienceism or popscience). The book touches upon newtonian metaphysics, the Cartesian delema, evolution, Christian cosmology, mystical theophanies, and both Fruedian and Jungian psychoanalysis. Overall Wolfgang Smith lays out powerful argumentation that crumbles the popscience worldview, and in replacement Wolfgang Smith leaves us with the strength of acient Christian cosmology and metaphysics.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good book - don't get me wrong - but it's just a paraphrase of what Guénon, Titus Burckhardt and Seyyed Hossein Nasr said on all those subjects.

One could therefore consider it as a "literature review".

I heard Wolfgang Smith's other books should be better.

[Michal Paszkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting - while Smith DOES present an argument against scientism, a large part of the book is an attack against the special sciences - pointing out that evolution is unfalsifiable, that psychoanalysis is a bit quacky etc. I found the book very readable and interesting, but I also find Smith's position a bit too close to that Rutherford quote "science is either physics or stamp-collecting". Either way, it was a stimulating read

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short review:

(I was gonna do a longer one but my notes are too big so I will leave it)

It's good. Since the author is a scientist, anything about science or philosophy of science is on point.

The stuff on theology and bible is not so good. He is pro scholasticism/natural theology/thomism.

"In any case, the fruitful balance between vision and abstract thought - spirit and letter - which had led Latin Christianity into the golden age of Scholasticism has turned out to be precarious and short lived. No sooner had the great masters passed from the scene than the schools began to manifest anti-metaphysical tendencies as well as certain signs of decadence."

I almost stopped reading the book at this point cause this take is so bad and misses the point so much. & Although I persisted, there is some incoherent natural theology stuff later on. He is also pro romanticism.

I think there is a common blind spot here. As far as I can tell, he doesn't go into the fall of man, which we only get by revelation - man is fallen, human reason is fallen, the creation itself is fallen. So we have problems here with natural theology.

I think it's a bit too negative on mathematics, physical models, and technology. I didn't like the genesis exegesis at the end which is related. I think you can attack scientism without having to go after these things. It's like worshipping a cow. The cow is fantastic, it gives milk, meat, it pulls the plow, it looks cute. The cow is not the problem, the worship is.

Science and Tech are so great and powerful and freed us from a lot of drudgery. And this power is why people try to build a religion off of it, or give their own religious delusions authority by piggybacking on it like psychologists do.

Unnecessarily wordy and obtuse eg why weltanschauung when we can just say world view.

Now, I know this seems negative but all I have to compare him with in my reading on this subject is Seraphim Rose so the standard is high. It's still overall good.

[Paulo De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro espetacular. Wolfgang Smith, com extrema proficiência e perícia, vai desmontando diversos mitos do cientificismo ao mesmo tempo que traça linha históricas e causais de pressupostos imbricados nas teorias e seus efeitos na sociedade humana. Começando com Descartes, passando por Newton, Darwin, Freud e Jung, o autor analisa os fundamentos das principais doutrinas em voga. Surpreendente porque pouco comentado são a coleção de argumentos e fatos contra o evolucionismo (em suas diversas versões), o qual tratamos como postulado arquiprovado em Ciência, doutrina que desde o seu surgimento até a contemporaneidade foi combatido por biólogos de primeira linha, e continua sendo.
Por fim, um destaque especial à tradução de Percival de Carvalho. Sem dúvida, uma das melhores que li nas últimas décadas. Um texto fluido, sem construções bizarras oriundas de uma tradução automática de sentenças em inglês. O texto é rico e elegante, e salta aos olhos do leitor atento a enorme habilidade com que o tradutor maneja a língua portuguesa. Lembra muito as traduções de Paulo Rónai e Mario Quintana.

[Josh Pendergrass]

I loved this critique of the metaphysical assumptions that underpin the scientific worldview and form the foundations of our modern culture. The author Wolfgang Smith is a physicist and mathematician. He is deeply concerned with the extent to which “science” has become a religion itself and what this means for our understanding of ourselves and our place in the universe. All human culture must be based in cult in some form, but we do not realize that this is true with our science and technology based society. The dangers of this cult are presented here. A society that views the universe and everything within it as ultimately mechanistic and material will in the end lead to an existential nihilism and spiritual slavery. The author seems to want to gently nudge us to a traditional philosophy that predates science and is based in a Christian cosmology. At the very least, we should all be highly skeptical of anyone who tells us to “trust the science”.

[Azlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime

[Lucca Armacollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wolfgang Smith is a saint. R.I.P. Legend.

[James McCallister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heavy.

[Kevin Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind blown.