Trajectories of (Non)Belief in the Scientific Community: The Case of Polish and Ukrainian Natural Scientists

Maria Rogińska

doi:10.1007/s13644-019-00386-x

Abstract

The article contributes to the discussion on the secularizing impact of science in modern societies. The starting point of the research is sociological data that shows lower religiosity of scientific communities in comparison to the general population in various countries. This might indicate that science does exert a secularizing force on modern ideologies. The explanatory hypotheses of this phenomenon are, however, ambiguous and predominantly concern Western countries. Based on 100 in-depth interviews with physicists and biologists from Central and Eastern Europe (Poland and Ukraine), it demonstrates the crucial role of cultural and historical context in the formulation of the (un)faith of the scientists. The scientific knowledge and participation in science as a social institution is more complementary than decisive in these processes, moreover, these factors play different roles in biographical trajectories of the Polish and Ukrainian natural scientists.

Highlights

A belief that science contributes to the secularization of the Western societies has been one of the key philosophical and sociological discussions since the Age of Enlightenment
Have the scholars been recruited from the irreligious families? Had the loss of faith occurred at the university? Is the science practiced by a mature researcher responsible for secularizing the research community? If the latter thesis was confirmed we would speak with more certainty about the impact science has on the secularization of societies
When reconstructing the biographical trajectories of thefaith of the scholars, we must refer briefly to the historical background within which they were taking place. These contexts were different in Poland and Ukraine, in both countries there was a period of real socialism, during which religion was combated by communist authorities

Summary

Introduction

A belief that science contributes to the secularization of the Western societies has been one of the key philosophical and sociological discussions since the Age of Enlightenment This belief is still present in debates on the theory of secularization. The opinion that science and religion are conflicted is rather characteristic for Western countries, while scientists from India, Hong Kong or Taiwan generally think cooperation is possible This shows that “religious tradition and regional context play an important role in the science-faith interface” (Ecklund et al 2016). CEE has become of particular interest to the researchers (see, for example Pollack and Pickel 2007; Müller 2011) These societies went through a period of the state-imposed secularism, and after the fall of the communist regimes they experienced religious revival. I focus on natural scientists from Ukraine and Poland, the countries, which have still been hardly investigated to show that other historical and cultural experience may create social mechanisms different from those in the West

A Few Methodological Remarks

A Response to State Atheism

Findings

Conclusions