SCIENTISM AS A FUNDAMENTALIST WORLDVIEW: WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ATHEIST FUNDAMENTALISM

Abstract

The paper deals with fundamentalism related to a scientist worldview and atheist fundamentalism as a corollary of a scientism. Although contradictory at first glance, the link between fundamentalism and scientism is revealed as something firm. The reason for this is the fact that scientism believes that science is the only and best answer to any question, a claim that is completely contrary to the nature of science itself. Similarly, atheist fundamentalists (Dawkins, Hitchens etc.) claim that any question related to God and religion can be resolved in the confines of science, which represents a clear misinterpretation of both science and religion. The link between scientism and fundamentalism is traced to the separation of science, understood as general inquiries about the world and all the beings in it, including ourselves, into hard and soft sciences or into natural sciences (or only science is some cultural backgrounds) and humanities. Contrary to this, the authors claim that it is impossible to come to a full understanding of the human being and the world around us without the joint effort of natural and human sciences. Keywords: fundamentalism; science; scientism; atheist fundamentalism.