Modern scientific thinking and the shock of the public sphere: a reflection based on Hannah Arendt

Abstract

This work aims to reflect on the emergence of modernity, the consolidation of modern scientific thinking and its specifically undesirable political consequences. For that, I rely on the thought of Hannah Arendt. Arendt highlights three events as the main precursors of the modern era: the “discovery” of the continents, the Reformation, and the invention and use of the telescope. I briefly discuss the relation of these events to the alienation from the world, as understood by Arendt, and delve into the novelties of science. Here I mention Galileo and the Copernican revolution, the experimental and quantitative method, the role of instrument manufacturing in the production of knowledge, the evaluation criterion of practical success, and logical-mathematical reasoning as elements that begin to shape scientific activity. From there, I highlight the movement, as described by Arendt, of modern scientific thought to encompass the most diverse fields of daily life, especially in the public sphere. I conclude highlighting the way in which scientism - which has homo faber’s characteristics - undermines the possibility of action when it enters the political sphere. Because “to be free and to act are the same”, it also prevents the manifestation of freedom. Moreover, I approach how scientism goes against human plurality, singularity and spontaneity. Totalitarian governments and consumer societies are extreme and real examples of what homo faber's logic can do when it replaces the field of action. At the end, I highlight a great challenge that we need to face.