Science, Faith and Society

by Michael Polanyi

Publisher:

University of Chicago Press

, 1964

Overview

In its concern with science as an essentially human enterprise, Science, Faith and Society makes an original and challenging contribution to the philosophy of science. On its appearance in 1946 the book quickly became the focus of controversy.

Polanyi aims to show that science must be understood as a community of inquirers held together by a common faith; science, he argues, is not the use of “scientific method” but rather consists in a discipline imposed by scientists on themselves in the interests of discovering an objective, impersonal truth. That such truth exists and can be found is part of the scientists’ faith. Polanyi maintains that both authoritarianism and scepticism, attacking this faith, are attacking science itself.

Key Features

• Makes an original and challenging contribution to the philosophy of science.
• Aims to show that science must be understood as a community of inquirers.
• Explains truth exists and can be found is part of the scientists’ faith.

Product Details

• Title: Science, Faith and Society
• Author: Michael Polanyi
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Print Publication Date: 1964
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Pages: 96
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Science
• ISBNs: 9780226672908, 9780226163444, 0226672905, 022616344X
• Resource ID: LLS:SCNCFTHSCTY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-01-09T17:43:47Z

About Michael Polanyi

Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) was a Hungarian-British chemist and philosopher, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He is the author of many books, including Science, Faith and Society and Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, both published by the University of Chicago Press.