Re: [asa] The Origin(s) of 'Scientism'

A google search with "scientism dictionary" produces quite a bit of
information.
It appears that the word has been in use since the 19th century. It
started out as simply referring to scientific methodology. At some
stage it acquired the secondary meaning of misapplication ot the
scientific method to fields outside science.
Don

Gregory Arago wrote:

> There is a question that has been sticking in my mind for several
> months, which has been raised here at the ASA discussion list
> before (http://www.calvin.edu/archive/asa/200601/0284.html), though
> the fundamental question went unasked.
>
> It is this: does anyone know who coined the term 'scientism'?
>
> The farthest I could trace back the term is to Ludwig von Mises'
> /Theory and History/ (1957 - http://www.mises.org/th/chapter11.asp).
>
> Of course, there are scientific figures who have demonstrated
> 'scientism' by their ideas and theories before the term was itself
> coined. I'm not inquiring about that, but rather about the 'emergence'
> of the word/concept/percept 'scientism' itself. That is, how it came
> to be used as a matter of language.
>
> Knowing that this is an association of scientists, it may seem like an
> absurd question. But I ask it in good faith, wondering if knowing who
> coined the term would help to shed some light on some other questions
> I've recently been posing. Hopefully the humility of a
> theologically-minded science and/or a scientifically-minded theology
> will help to enable an answer.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Gregory
>
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-- 
Donald A. Nield
Associate Professor, Department of Engineering Science
University of Auckland
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