The world view of the exact sciences [1928f]

Hans Reichenbach

pp. 241-244

in: Maria Reichenbach, Robert S. Cohen (eds), Selected writings 1909–1953, Berlin, Springer, 1978

Abstract

If we wish to comprehend the vast expansion of science during the past few centuries from the aspect of its influence upon our world view, we must bear in mind that the endeavor cannot consist of casting about for tangible signs, for clearly visible manifestations of a newly constructed conception of the universe. In all its tendencies, science has a positivistic orientation; scientists are concerned with research and knowledge and do not contemplate directly the effect of their work upon attitudes towards the universe. If, nonetheless, something like a world view characteristic of the exact sciences has evolved, it is because of the very nature of intellectual activity, which is such that conceptual knowledge, pursued seriously to its utmost consequences, comes in time to be accompanied by a gradual redirection of the emotions. During the course of such an extensive intellectual process as the growth of modern science, this tendency may flower into the all-embracing basic approach that constitutes a world view. To be sure, this world view will not exactly be a formulated system: it will not, that is, be yet another explicit conceptual structure. It will, rather, be given in the sense of a basic attitude, an intellectual stance, a habit of mind enveloping the edifice of science like an invisible cloud felt only by those who circulate within its precincts and inhale its atmosphere. Yet it is present nonetheless, and its actual influence will be all the greater for the fact that it is as yet not systematized and has not grown into dogma.