Science and Political Values
FOGELMAN, EDWIM
Science and Political Values Political Theory. Reviewed by Edwin Fogelman By Arnold Brecht. Department of Government, Princeton University. 603 pp. $12.00. University of Oklahoma IN HIS NEW...
...Whether or not he succeeds in this heroic effort...
...Scientific Value Relativism, as Brecht calls his position, begins with two basic points: first, a distinction between knowledge acquired through the use of scientific method (which alone is transmissible as such from person to person) and knowledge gained in other ways (as through intuition) ; and second, a consistent recognition that it is impossible logically to derive normative "Ought'' statements from factual "Is" statements...
...University of Oklahoma IN HIS NEW book, the first of a projected two volumes, Arnold Brecht has undertaken, in effect, to revive the moribund study of political philosophy...
...Brecht explores this possibility in connection with the idea of justice, and in an illuminating discussion he suggests five requirements of justice which, it seems, have obtained universal and invariable approval...
...As a result, political theory has been conspicuously irrelevant to the great practical issues which have confronted us during this century...
...The man of faith may content himself with rendering unto science the things which are amenable to empirical verification and unto the Lord the things—including ultimate values—which are not...
...Brecht has neither resolved this dilemma nor attempted to deny its significance...
...So radical are the implications of this dilemma that, with few notable exceptions, 20th century political theorists have avoided or evaded the entire area of political philosophy...
...It does not follow, however, that science has nothing to contribute to the problem of values...
...We may attempt to supply empirical evidence for the presence of the Kantian imperatives: In principle there is no reason why such evidence could not be found...
...Rather, he has clarified with great care the actual extent of our predicament and, even more important, he has suggested how we may live with it...
...This is as much as we can reasonably expect...
...Science does not exclude an appeal to God or to nature or to tradition as justification for the adoption of ultimate values...
...The second possibility is to verify through methodical investigation the existence in human experience of universal and invariant normative values...
...To be constantly aware of the limited validity of our deepest beliefs, but to act decisively despite these limitations—this is a demanding assignment, perhaps for many an impossible assignment...
...In this situation, what is the status of ultimate political values...
...To the extent, therefore, that we accept as true only the results of scientific investigations, we are unable to prove the validity of our fundamental political beliefs...
...In other words, the dilemma of 20th century political thought is with us still...
...Nor can scientific method be used to prove that a particular value so justified is "wrong...
...Scientific Value Relativism does not necessarily imply that all values are equally arbitrary and equally valid (or invalid...
...On the contrary, legitimate value judgments presuppose a scientific inquiry into the meaning of alternative ethical goals, the consistency among the intermediate goals which we may profess, the consequences of adopting one goal or another as the ultimate political value and the authority upon which we base our particular values...
...Values derived from revelation or intuition are not subject to scientific disproof...
...In the end, science cannot justify even the pursuit of scientific truth...
...Brecht has given us a work of striking breadth and acumen...
...There is nothing to equal it as a comprehensive, lucid examination, both historical and analytical, of a foremost issue of 20th century political science: the connection between the criteria of scientific knowledge and the status of ultimate political values...
...Scientific method affords no way of proving or disproving the "truth" of any of the traditional political values—liberty, equality, majority rule, or any of the others...
...One need not condone all the practical consequences of this solution in order to agree that it is legitimate...
...The adoption of Scientific Value Relativism involves more than the rational acceptance of a philosophic doctrine: It involves an attitude toward life and a basis of conduct...
...This crisis, which first became disturbing in the closing decade of the 19th century, has resulted from the self-conscious application of scientific method to the investigation of an ever-widening range of social questions...
...Nevertheless, it remains for everyone to clarify as best he can the viable alternatives...
...Contemporary political thought is heir to a profound crisis of faith...
...Nor can we blame them: As Brecht himself points out, "We cannot justly reproach someone for not doing what it is impossible for him to do...
...This means that our scientific knowledge can never justify the inference of a particular ethical goal...
...In this sense, responsible ethical choices depend on prior scientific investigations...
...And in this important task of clarification, Brecht's new work will prove an indispensable aid...
...Those for whom the assignment is impossible—and even Max Weber said of his life's work, "I want to see how much I can endure"—will not find the doctrine of Scientific Value Relativism acceptable...
...Nevertheless, the sober fact remains that the authority of science cannot be invoked to justify the ultimate value itself...
...On intellectual grounds this position is unassailable, granted the prevailing understanding of scientific method...
...Although we still cannot say that the approved notion of justice ought to prevail, we can at least hope to say that it always has prevailed...
...There are two possibilities...
...In the first place, we may justify our values on the basis of non-scientific authority...
...In this way, scientific investigations may reduce the area of our ignorance and, hence, of our uncertainty...
...They have escaped into a study either of the history of political ideas or the sociology of political ideas—both very different from an inquiry into the validity of political ideas here and now...
...The essence of the crisis lies in the circumstance that no ultimate social values are demonstrably true by the criteria of scientific knowledge...
...It insists only upon a recognition that no ultimate political value has obtained the sanction of scientific verification...
...but on psychological and political grounds it may seem to be inadequate...
Vol. 42 • June 1959 • No. 26
