p Morality is a social phenonemon. Therefore the moral profile of an individual is determined by a wide spectrum of influences exerted on his spiritual world by various aspects of his activity. In this context an important role is playea by the interrelation of faith and knowledge.
p faith is a powerful moral factor capable of engendering in the individual both moral uplift and fanatic barbarity, the two being capable of co-existing in one and the same person without arousing in him a sense of internal contradiction. History is rich with supporting evidence. This may be explained by a variety of reasons, among them by the form of conviction engendered by faith and characterized by the close dependency of judgement upon the internal thought system. The latter may be disjunctive with reality and may contain logical contradiction and absurdities, but since it corresponds to the idea of faith, even a falsehood may be accepted by a believer as the truth.
p Knowledge gives birth to a completely different form of conviction. As distinct from faith, knowledge is not internally confined. It may be verified at any given point. A lack of correlation between knowledge and reality leads to the replacement of conviction by doubt. Conviction founded on blind faith sooner or later collapses together with the ethical system based upon it as it collides with reality or with scientific logic. Conviction founded upon true scientific knowledge is reinforced as it encounters reality and is submitted to logical control as knowledge itself expands. This form of conviction contributes to the creation of a sense of harmonious balance between thought and reality. The latter is the basis of an elevated moral spirit and forms a fertile soil for moral perfection as a whole. Does it follow that knowledge is destined to oust faith (in the broader meaning of the word) in the future and that the morality of the future society will be founded solely upon knowledge having no need of faith as such?
p First of all we must observe that there are elements of faith in evolving knowledge, for it is impossible (and quite unnecessary) to deduce knowledge from its initial propositions in each case. Without faith in the truth of initial scientific propositions, 55 without a modicum of trust, it would be impossible to make headway. But at the same time, every scientific inquiry contains in one form or another an element of scepticism concerning previously accumulated knowledge. It is through doubt that the scientist moves to new discoveries. In this sense “heretics” often form the cutting edge of science. Such is one of the feature contradictions impelling science forward. But it does not exclude faith in the truth of scientific knowledge and in the omnipotence of science, a faith which is one of the motive forces stimulating scientific progress. Such faith is founded upon the fact that the conclusions of science are constantly being tested and confirmed in practice.
p The relationship between faitn and knowledge may seem to be a simple one if we analyze the essence of the former without delving into those aspects touching upon its human origins and significance. If we take into account its real human ties, however, this mutual relationship acquires a very complex character. It is sufficient to note that the entirety of the experience gained from the socialist revolution and the building of socialist society have demonstrated that a powerful motive force for man may be found not only in a concrete knowledge of the laws of social development but also in a faith in the verity of the laws discovered by Marxism-Leninism. Such a faith is inseparable from the recognition of the greatness of man and mankind as a whole and an acceptance of the role and possibilities offered by science. It is inseparable from an internal striving for personal verification of these possibilities through participation in the life of society. Just as knowledge, it is the bulwark maintaining an uncompromising high moral standard on the part of man.
p However, since acquired knowledge separates the individual from the crowd, it contains the seeds of other possibilities, namely that of the moral impoverishment of the arrogant specialist. The feeling of superiority over one’s compatriots sometimes leads to the separation out of the scientific elite into an isolated caste. On the other hand the untrained anarchic mind is capable of employing knowledge to justify a cynical stance towards the world. Like the crazed anatomist who sees in his lover above all an anatomical object, so the cynic begins to see the world in gray, manifesting thereby his limited purview and the poverty of his perception of reality. The number of cynics who, from "scientific position" ridicule everything and everybody is fairly sizeable, especially among those who have acquired specialized analytical tools before assimilating the wisdom gained from life itself.
56p The scientific approach to the analysis of any given phenomenon is inevitably a rationalist approach. But rational thought, without which the notion of a specialist is inconceivable, may in psychological terms turn into the baneful habit of adopting a rationalist position to every aspect of life. Such a person oegins to demonstrate a cynical attitude towards nature, towards generally recognized human and cultural values if their application does not coincide with his conceptions concerning rationalism.
p Having rapidly multiplied the channels for disseminating information science has today strewn an avalanche of information upon the population. This is a positive good—but only within definite limits. Forcing the brain and nervous system of the individual to work beyond their normal limits, the sea of information becomes a narcotic with detrimental effects upon the psyche and nerves of the individual. Many people today eagerly try to accumulate every conceivable titbit of information, not so much because they are collecting data on a given question but rather because this information has become like alcohol or cigarettes, and acts either as a stimulant or depressant. Having developed the habit of absorbing an enormous volume of printed, audio and visual information, we have begun to carry this habit beyond the limits necessary for education, in a number of cases facilitating the emergence of vicious mores, a certain information mania. In the future, or so some assert, it will be possible to establish direct link-ups to the brain of the human so that educational and other forms of information will be directly “fed” to the brain cells, by-passing the organs of sight and hearing. It is not difficult to imagine that these new methods, if employed unwisely, could in fact “help” society "blow itself up" through mass schizophrenia.
The most important safeguard against the negative effects wrought by science on the formation of society’s moral principles is the maintenance of a high level of culture. It can even be said that to a certain degree science is connected to morality through culture and that high moral standards are achieved through a high cultural level.
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