Science and the Religious Rhetorics of the Ineffable: A Comparison Between Two Cosmoses

• Authors: Cummings Lance

Title variants

PL

Nauka i religijna retoryka o tym, co niewysłowione. Porównanie między dwoma Kosmosami

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Since Thomas Kuhn’s revolutionary look at the social construction of science, research into the rhetorics of science has shown how science is a persuasive form of discourse, rarely as transparent and self-evident as is often understood. Rhetorical studies have taken this cue to examine how science is constructed through available means beyond mere logic. Arguably, the resurgence of creationist beliefs in political discourse has brought on a new impetus in science to persuade the “hearts and minds” of the American population, inspiring Neil deGrasse Tyson’s remaking of Carl Sagan’s 1980 documentary "Cosmos". Using Rudolph Otto’s, "The Idea of the Holy", this article will define religion as an ineffable experience that creates “creature-consciousness,” or a sense of awe and insufficiency towards something outside the self, while also producing a sense of identification or “oneness.” The ineffable experience is core to the public making of science, just as the ineffable experience plays a defining role in religions. Though science and religion are often seen as mutually exclusively (sometimes in opposition), identifying the ineffable experience as a shared ground can provide opportunities for science and religion to dialogue in new ways.

PL

Od czasu rewolucyjnego spojrzenia Tomasza Kuhna na społeczną konstrukcję nauki badania nad retoryką nauki pokazały, że nauka jest perswazyjną formą dyskursu, rzadko tak przejrzystą i oczywistą, jak często jest rozumiana. Badania retoryczne podjęły ten wątek, analizując, jak konstruowana jest nauka za pomocą środków innych niż logika. Odrodzenie kreacjonistycznych przekonań w dyskursie politycznym dało nowy impuls w nauce, aby przekonać „serca i umysły” Amerykanów i zainspirowało Neila deGrasse Tysona do przygotowania nowej odsłony fi lmu dokumentalnego pt. "Cosmos" autorstwa Marka Carlosa Sagana z 1980 roku. Na bazie książki "The Idea of the Holy" Rudolpha Otto, artykuł ten definiuje religię jako niewysłowione doświadczenie, które tworzy „świadomość istoty”, a także poczucie podziwu i niewystarczalności wobec czegoś poza sobą, jednocześnie tworząc poczucie tożsamości lub „jedności”. Niewysłowione doświadczenie jest podstawą publicznego podejmowania tematu nauki, podobnie jak niewysłowione doświadczenie odgrywa decydującą rolę w religiach. Choć nauka i religia są często postrzegane jako wzajemnie wykluczające się (czasami opozycyjne), określenie niewysłowionego doświadczenia jako wspólnej płaszczyzny może zapewnić nowe możliwości dialogu pomiędzy nauką i religią.

Keywords

EN

rhetoric; science; religion; cosmos; ineffable

PL

retoryka; nauka; religia; kosmos; niewysłowione

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Retoryczne
• Journal: Res Rhetorica
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 15-28

Dates

published

2017-06

Contributors

author

Cummings Lance

• University of North Carolina, USA

References

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