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Speech

June 16, 1977

Why Are We Here? (1977)

Torah & Science Yeshiva University
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Speech

Fourth Lecture, Judaism and Science: From Modern Science to Ancient Judaism (1954)

Perhaps the clearest and most concise way to illustrate the extent to which modern science agrees in its tendencies and conclusions with the ancient – yet ever-young – ideals of Judaism is to draw a sharp distinction between the science of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and that of today. The difference is tremendous – they represent two completely different states of mind. It is a startling and gratifying change – though many who think themselves “up-to-date” are, in fact, still 50 years behind the times.What the 19th-Century State of Mind WasIt was characterized by a near-religious belief in optimism and progress – the idea that science’s accomplishments would be unlimited, and that, given enough time and patience, man would force nature to reveal all her secrets. Science evolved from policy to creed, from method to faith. It was no longer science – it was scientism. Consider five features of this scientism:A. Science as a Way of Life Science, like religion, was expected to guide every aspect of human life – ethics, morals, behavior, and even thought. It monopolized every waking moment. In becoming so all-encompassing, it ceased to be science and became a faith – scientism. (See the parody “A Modern Version of the 23rd Psalm.”)B. The Promise of Redemption Science claimed it would solve not only disease and discomfort, but also psychological and spiritual ills. A “Science of Man” emerged, promising to condition future generations into moral and democratic beings – all through science. This was clearly a religious claim.C. A Priesthood The scientist became a priest – cold, rational, and infallible – the sole possessor of truth. The public invested scientists with a quasi-divine authority, making them the priestly class of modernity.D. Certainty There was no room for doubt. Once science declared a principle, it became dogma – matter could be destroyed, the sun was the center, atoms contained three particles. These were no longer theories – they were certain…
Torah & Science

Interview

Interview from Are We Alone (1966)

Caras: Rabbi, is there anything in the philosophy of the Jews that militates against there being extraterrestrial life? Lamm: In Jewish thinking throughout the ages there has been a general tendency to regard man as the sole concern of God in this world. Accompanying this there has developed an idea that man is the purpose of the entire universe. This has been a rather general tendency, although it never has been enshrined into dogma. However, one of the very greatest of all Jewish thinkers of all days, perhaps the greatest Jewish philosopher of all times, Maimonides - about eight hundred years ago - strongly opposed this view and he maintained that man may be the superior creature on Earth but it would be foolish to consider that he is, therefore, the purpose of the universe or, in fact, that he is necessarily the most advanced creature in the world. And according to his whole approach, Judaism today can welcome with remarkable openness the idea that intelligent races exist elsewhere, species even more intelligent than man.CARAS: If there are intelligent races and they have had millions of years longer than we have to develop, what would happen if they are not men? What would happen to the theological position, or must they be known as man?LAMM: I think the problem as to what form these extraterrestrial intel ligent sentient races take .is really irrelevant. They may look like elephants, they may look like seals, or look like the little men from Mars that science fiction has always portrayed in the comics. The point is that it is not morphology or form that counts. What does count is their intellectual and spiritual development. If they are more intelli-■ gent than man, then I suppose they will be less hostile than man and that therefore we can enter into some dialogue with them - assuming, n of course, that we ever can contact them.CARAS: Do you think we will contact them?LAMM: I am not a scientist and I think even the scientists don’t have י any definite answer.…
Torah & Science

Note

Science and Religion

I. Areas of Conflict; (A) Usual. Evolution vs. Creation; age of earth, etc.; (B) More Important: Freedom vs Determinism, also Providence (Divine Freedom); II. Methodology. Three Approaches.; (A) (Thomas Hobbes; see Randall, "The Role of Knowledge in Western Religion," 1959): Religion does not deal with knowledge, fact, quantity; it concerns only the poetic, symbolic, mythological. Its aim is for insight, morality, action, not knowledge of the world. It has nothing to do with "truth" in the scientific interpretation of the word.B. (Medieval world, Spinoza, Hegel): Religion and science cover the same field, deal with same subject matter. They are therefore either competitors from which we must choose one (Medieval Church, devotees of Scientism); or they are identical, the conflicts only apparent and due to ignorance, hence must strive to reconcile (Medieval Scholasticism, Saadia, Maimonides, etc. So, Spinoza, Hegel).C. (Kant, Schleiermacher, others): They have essentially different functions, but they overlap. Science deals primarily with quantifiable phenomena and the factual; religion is "transcendental reason," more esthetic than factual, deals with value judgments.III. A Jewish Attitude. Criticism of Above.A. Division too rigid, classification too neat. Requires a double standard of truth, essentially dualistic. Its religion must be completely out-of-this-world, which is impossible for Halakhah which is so strongly this-world oriented. Also, it reduces science to technology. Conant makes the point that scientists frequently must make ethical choices.B. Irreconcilability is un-Jewish. *Ki hi chokhmat’khem u-binat’khem l’einei ha-goyim* was interpreted by Sages to mean astronomy, mathematics. Bruno Kisch on *ve'kivshuha* as a commandment to pursue science as method of conquering Nature. Also, irreconcilability sets up science as an independent quasi-religion. Earmarks of "Scientism": a way of life; redemptive ("science" will bring utopia); a priesthood (of Ph.D.s);…
Torah & Science