Idea
This idea indicates that scientific pragmatism may become the dominant standard in modernity, pushing moral judgment to the margins. The meaning here is that utility and effectiveness can come to dominate thought to the point where it becomes difficult to clearly distinguish good from evil. For this reason, the text rejects reducing reason to what merely works in practice.
Concise Formulation
Modernity: dominated by scientific pragmatism
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim occupies an important place in the argument because it reveals one of modernity’s internal tensions. The book does not attack science, but objects to its becoming the sole criterion for determining the value of actions and ideas. Hence moral criticism does not come as an external addition, but as a correction to the course of knowledge when it becomes detached from responsibility.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in the fact that it explains why Arkoun does not trust purely scientific solutions to human problems. The issue is not a lack of information, but a problem in how actions are judged. This helps us understand his project as an effort to reconnect knowledge with responsibility and meaning, rather than to glorify effectiveness alone.
Brief Evidence
This idea indicates that scientific pragmatism may become the dominant standard in modernity, pushing moral judgment to the margins. The meaning here is that utility and effectiveness can come to dominate thought to the point where it becomes difficult to clearly distinguish good from evil. For this reason, the text rejects reducing reason to what merely works in practice.
Reading Questions
- What does thought lose when pragmatism becomes a higher standard than moral judgment?
- How can science remain useful without dominating all forms of evaluation?
Documentation Grade
High: the claim appears in a clear place in the book’s material.