THE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE TO THE 

 TRADITIONAL IDEAL OF SCIENCE 



c*a 



THE ideal of scientific knowledge which was traditional 

 in Western Europe until modern times reflects the men- 

 tality of the Greeks of the classical period of philosophy 

 by whom it was first formulated. The Greek of classical times 

 was whole-minded; he saw things primarily as a whole, and 

 his outlook was organic. Human life and culture for him was 

 not something partial and one-sided, but a complete and uni- 

 fied whole engaging the whole man in all his activities. The 

 universe itself was regarded, fundamentally, as a whole, as pro- 

 foundly one and simple beneath all the variety and multiplicity 

 of life and nature, in so far as the inner essence of reality is 

 simple and common to all. This implied a basic unity of action 

 in the universe, made evident in the reign of law; chance events 

 led beyond themselves to a thorough-going teleology which 

 reveals that the universe is logical, in so far as its structure and 

 activity are based on design. On the surface there is unending 

 change and variety; below all this flux there are permanent 

 elements, and the flux itself is guided by eternal and unchang- 

 ing laws, so that it is a rational process. The world was regarded 

 as a system of rational law, with unity of structure, as is most 

 evident in man himself, who is a part of nature; but it may also 

 be seen from the structure of crystals, flowers, musical sounds 

 and the movements of the celestial spheres. The universe is 

 not just a conglomeration of disparate entities, but a cosmos, 

 a harmonious and symmetrical whole, hierarchical in disposition. 

 If the universe is logical and rational, and man gifted with 

 reason, then he can understand the universe. It is possible and 

 necessary that he should enquire into the reasons of things and 

 events to seek the inner reality, the essence, and to discover the 

 laws of nature. Convinced of this, the Greek was given to 



447 



