About this episode

The episode continues the discussion on scientism, exploring its problems and implications for knowledge.

In this episode, we continue our discussion of scientism. We talk about 6 problems with scientism that have been raised by Susan Haack, if we should feel bad about having some sympathy for scientism, and whether the contributions of all scientifici disciplines deserved the label of 'knowledge'. Enjoy. References: Haack, S. (2012). Six Signs of Scientism. Logos & Episteme, 3(1), 75–95. https://doi.org/10.5840/logos-episteme20123151 Brown, N. J. L., Sokal, A. D., & Friedman, H. L. (2013). The complex dynamics of wishful thinking: The critical positivity ratio. American Psychologist, 68(9), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032850 Peels, R. (2023). Scientism and scientific fundamentalism: What science can learn from mainstream religion. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 48(2), 395–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/03080188.2022.2152246 de Ridder, Jeroen. “Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing.” Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 3, no. 12 (2014): 23-39. https://social-epistemology.com/2014/11/03/science-and-scientism-in-popular-science-writing-jeroen-de-ridder/ Meehl, P. E. (2004). Cliometric metatheory III: Peircean consensus, verisimilitude and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Smriti Mehta, Daniël Lakens

Topics covered

• scientism
• philosophy of science
• critique of scientism
• knowledge
• scientific disciplines

Keywords

• scientism
• Susan Haack
• philosophy
• knowledge
• science

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Six Signs of Scientism, The complex dynamics of wishful thinking: The critical positivity ratio, Scientism and scientific fundamentalism: What science can learn from mainstream religion, Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing, Cliometric metatheory III: Peircean consensus, verisimilitude and asymptotic method, What’s so bad about scientism?, The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason

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• Episode 80: Intelligentia Artificialis · July 17, 2026 · 1h 11m
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• Episode 77: Miscitatio · March 13, 2026 · 1h 11m
• Episode 76: Incitamenta - II · February 27, 2026 · 44 min
• Episode 75: Incitamenta - I · February 15, 2026 · 52 min
• Episode 74: Notiones Vague · January 30, 2026 · 1h 7m

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