St.

Paul University Philippines

GRADUATE SCHOOL

HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

A Term Paper
in

IMPACT OF SCIENCE IN SHAPING OUR UNDERSTANDING

JASMINE M. WAGGAY
SCI 201
MRS. GLENDA CARONAN
NOVEMBER 27, 2022
Abstract

Science and technology have had a major impact on society, and their impact is growing. By drastically

changing our means of communication, the way we work, our housing, clothes, and food, our methods

of transportation, and, indeed, even the length and quality of life itself, science has generated changes

in the moral values and basic philosophies of mankind. Beginning with the plow, science has changed

how we live and what we believe. By making life easier, science has given man the chance to pursue

societal concerns such as ethics, aesthetics, education, and justice; to create cultures; and to improve

human conditions. But it has also placed us in the unique position of being able to destroy ourselves.

Change is one of mankind’s most mysterious creations. The factors that operate to cause it came into

play when man produced his first tool. With it he changed the world forever, and bound himself to the

artifacts he would create in order, always, to make tomorrow better than today. But how does change

operate? What triggers a new invention, a different philosophy, an altered society? The interactive

network of man’s activities links the strangest, most disparate elements, bringing together the most

unlikely combinations in unexpected ways to create a new world. Is there a pattern to change in

different times and separate places in our history? Can change be forecast? How does society live with

perpetual innovation that, in changing the shape of its environment, also transforms its attitudes,

morals, values? If the prime effect of change is more change, is there a limit beyond which we will not

be able to go without anarchy, or have we adaptive abilities, as yet only minimally activated, which

wall make of our future a place very different from anything we have ever experienced before?

Introduction

Science: Generally, the word science coming from Latin (scientia) means knowledge.

Technology : Technology as a concept has been used in Greek “tecne” and “ars” respectively meaning

“technique” and “arts” in that order understood in the ancient world and in the middle ages.

Traditionally, it denotes the shaping of sensible perceptible things in the service of some need or idea
Science had volunteered great bangs in electricity, automobile and computer engineering, informatics

and architecture, aeronautic and naval engineering to mention a few.

Scientific and technological advances have had profound effects on human life. In the 19th century,

most families could expect to lose one or more children to disease. Every day we rely on technologies

made possible through the application of scientific knowledge and processes. It has provided sundry

remedy to diseases through medical researches. Yet it has also bequetted to humanity an ensemble of

violence and war, a culture of death and a godless world of unbelief.

The computers and cell phones which we use, the cars and airplanes in which we travel, the medicines

that we take, and many of the foods that we eat were developed in part through insights obtained

from scientific research. Science has boosted living standards, has enabled humans to travel into

Earth’s orbit and to the moon, and has given us new ways of thinking about ourselves and the

universe.

Evolutionary biology has been and continues to be a cornerstone of modern science. 

Evolution is a core concept in biology that is based both in the study of past life forms and in the study

of the relatedness and diversity of present-day organisms. The rapid advances now being made in the

life sciences and in medicine rest on principles derived from an understanding of evolution. 

Body

Science is not the only way of knowing and understanding. But science is a way of knowing that differs

from other ways in its dependence on empirical evidence and testable explanations. Because

biological evolution accounts for events that are also central concerns of religion — including the

origins of biological diversity and especially the origins of humans — evolution has been a contentious

idea within society since it was first articulated by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858.

Acceptance of the evidence for evolution can be compatible with religious faith. Today, many religious

denominations accept that biological evolution has produced the diversity of living things over

billions of years of Earth’s history. Many have issued statements observing that evolution and the

tenets of their faiths are compatible. Scientists and theologians have written eloquently about their
awe and wonder at the history of the universe and of life on this planet, explaining that they see no

conflict between their faith in God and the evidence for evolution. Religious denominations that do not

accept the occurrence of evolution tend to be those that believe in strictly literal interpretations of

religious texts.

Scientists, like people in other professions, hold a wide range of positions about religion and the role

of supernatural forces or entities in the universe. Some adhere to a position known as scientism,

which holds that the methods of science alone are sufficient for discovering everything there is to

know about the universe. Others ascribe to an idea known as deism, which posits that God created all

things and set the universe in motion but no longer actively directs physical phenomena. Others are

theists, who believe that God actively intervenes in the world. Many scientists who believe in God,

either as a prime mover or as an active force in the universe, have written eloquently about their

beliefs.

It is indubitable that when science impinges on people’s lives, it does so often at the practical plane

presto technology. Impacts on the intellectual horizons are less frequent, indeed, uncommon, as only

few people understand scientific principles. From the time man found himself in the world’s stage, it

appears as if the elements of nature went into grave conspiracy against him. Hence the first task facing

man was to survive amidst the aggressive nature apparently populated with capricious divinities.

Then, to conciliate the forces of nature man turned to myths and religious rites. Here nature is

considered to be semi-divine having her own secrets which the gods possess exclusively. In this

context, any attempt to exploit nature by scientific genius, will be tantamount to irreverence. If for

instance “disaster results from attempts to apply man’s scientific knowledge, it is his punishment for

prying into the sacred mysteries of gods. The general belief then is that it is only through magical

formulae that men could gain access into nature’s pathways. However, magic failed to build houses

and voodoo failed to feed the ancient men. At the instance of this reality, they began to exploit nature

with rudimentary technology and science. Thus, “it was vital to develop faculties of observation and

experimentation, people had to recognize which plants were useful and which were harmful. It was

advantageous to observe the habits of animals in order to hunt them better. It was also important to
select those stones which might serve as tools or from which metals could be extracted. Our forbears

did just these and it delivered because they survived. In Egypt, particularly, geometry was invented in

the course of aggressive search for the solutions to the concrete problems of surveying and parceling

out land. Alongside the Egyptian civilization, Mesopotamia was also a brilliant centre for originating

subsistent scientific culture. As a matter of fact, the world owes to the Sumerians the invention of

writing which spread as far as China. At this level, science has really taken off at a very vulnerable

speed. The Renaissance was the launching ground for that great agenda that was in future to

emasculate the world, so to speak. Men first began to do exploit into unraveling the laws and

fundamental principles of nature to quite great advantages.

From the 20th century it appears that the ecstasy of accomplishment has overtaken the scientists.

Thus the bid is today on the path of making science absolute. Preparation for this was made by the

farreaching successful explorations which science had in the outer world i.e. neighbouring planets and

in the inner world “the structure of subatomic realities.” With this, some air of infinity and

omnipotence masked the project of science.

Analogically therefore, science seem to have completed the cycle of “divinity.” Obvious outline of this

stage was the bold attempt to reduce every reality to the scientific measure and categories, not

excluding life, values, morals, spirit, culture, and language to logical atomism. Pragmatism, process

philosophy and process theology were, in like reductionist spirit, packaged and advanced to the

people with so much ideological bombardment as if they were all that is about reality. The scientific

Weltanschauung is thereby the leading voice and guide in the technological society of today.

Scientific epistemology was out for demystification of knowledge in counterpoise to erstwhile sub-

scientific provenance of myths. Natural explanation was sought for natural phenomena without

resorting to magic and mythology. Thales was the first in recorded history that resisted the all too

common appeal to gods in explanation for the fertility of the earth. He explained earthquake by the

movement of subterranean rivers shaking the ground and not by the rage of Poseidon (god of the sea).

Lightning was accounted for by wind cutting through the clouds rather than by the ill humour of Zeus-
god of the thunderbolt. Thus one of the ambitions of the preSocratic natural philosophy was to free

scientific explanation from supernatural interference and caprice of the gods and to inaugurate a new

logical progress from cause to effect and vice versa. The New Physics has indicated that man is not a

passive observer but one who has biases and prejudices which go to determine the direction of the

result. Hence “in giving lectures and talks on modern physics, I have discerned a growing feeling that

fundamental physics is pointing the way to a new appreciation of man and his place in the universe.

As a matter of fact, a phenomenon under scientific observation is now known to be defined by an

indivisible whole consisting of the system, the observer and the instrument of observation. By this, the

object observed and the subject observing become inseparable. The result is that knowing becomes an

act of participation and “things only take on meaning when filtered through human experience

Science and its worldview have been quite significant in the mankind’s battle against dogmatism of

sorts. The pre-historic man as for the man of the medieval church is often than not given to fixed

points of view; not much room is open for dynamism and contingency. On the other hand, the man of

science is ever ready to shift paradigms. The implication can only be described as monumental. This is

because “Atheism, Darwinism and virtually all the “isms” emanating from the eighteenth to the

twentieth century philosophies” which were built on the assumption that the universe was infinite

collapsed.

It is important to focus reflection on the impact of science on man’s vision of reality. According to Lon

champ, in his Science and Belief, “The main scientific advances in the twentieth century undoubtedly

give us a new vision of science and of the world. It has been an issue of wild conjectures whether the

scientific progress has got any welcome implication to the metaphysical world; whether the human

sensibility for the spiritual and metaphysical has been affected or promoted by the centuries’ scientific

strides.

The logic of the above scientific progress could translate for any keen mind, the idea of God. Indeed,

order is an attribute of the intelligible and from the metaphysics of order, access to the supernatural

realm could be realized. Albert Einstein once said that if the proposition of science ever succeeds, then
it is indicative of an underlying reality to the phenomena. Saying this, he is subscribing to a reality

“existing independently of all observation” or measurement and residing outside space and time in an

eternal and infinite region.

The discovery in 1953 of the double helix structure of the DNA molecule by James Watson and Francis

Crick gave birth to an entirely new field of molecular biology. The result has been progressive

elucidation of the structure of living things at the molecular level and rapid advances in the life

sciences, including the establishment of gene recombinant technology by Stanley Cohen and Herbert

Boyer in 1973, the birth of a cloned sheep, Dolly, in 1996, and completion in 2003 of the project to

sequence the entire human genome, conducted by the International Human Genome Sequencing

Consortium, a collaboration of six countries including Japan, and five other North American and

European countries. These recent advances in the life sciences have greatly increased understanding

of humans and other living things, extending the frontiers of human activity, particularly in the

medical field, and greatly affecting people’s “sense of life” and “sense of ethics.” Furthermore,

advances in brain research hint at the possibility of closing in on the human soul, and progress in that

area will surely have a large effect on people’s sense of values. The IT revolution of recent years is the

culmination of many developments in computer technology, including the concept of the computing

machine proposed by Alan Turing, and the invention of the transistor by William Shockley, John

Bardeen, and Walter Brattain, as well as the advent of the Internet and other advances in information

and communications technology. The IT revolution, however, does not consist merely of the

development of new products or improvement of people’s convenience, but is also greatly changing

people’s modes of behavior and lifestyles, through the possibilities it has opened up for the people of

the world to use cyberspace for instantaneous exchange of information and opinions.

The role that science and technology has played in improving the life conditions across the globe is

vivid, but the benefit has to been harvested maximum by all countries. Science and technology has

made life a lot easier and also a lot better with the advancement of medicines and analysis on diseases.

Apart from the medical side, there has been remarkable development in education, communication,

agriculture, industry etc. the global economic output has increased 17 folds in the 20 th century. In
spite of the advancements in almost all sectors, still the world is not free from hunger, disease,

pollution, illiteracy and poverty. The gap between the rich and the poor has widened. By the

21st century, with the right applications of research, development, and implications of science and

technology a major difference could be brought about. Scientific results are linked to the development

of new products and new technologies, and contribute greatly to economic and medical progress, and

to other real social and economic activities. When the question is raised about what science and

technology for society really means, one important viewpoint is whether or not scientific results are

linked to the development of technologies that can create real, utilizable products and services.

Every day new technologies are coming up which are making human life easier and more comfortable.

Results

It is truly that science and technology did have a great help to what and how do we live as of today.

With this study, attest that science has impact in shaping our understanding of nature, humanity and

God which led human civilization to achieve next to perfection of living. We all know that if there are

many benefits of science could give but we should not forget that there are also numerous

disadvantages it could give.

Our increasing human population faces difficulties in interactions with local and global

environments. The advancement of technology, well, also needs more resources to use in creating

these technologies. We are currently enjoying the benefits of new technologies and we forget that

basic resources are now depleting.

Without proper implementation of science and technology, no nation could grow and all those nations

that were labeled as low in growth have proved where they stand today and all that has happened

only because of science and technology.

with all possible facilities for their research thirst and support and motivate them, as the future of our

nation is in their hands and they could get our nation to more advanced levels than what it is today.

Discussion

The role of science in an increasingly fragmented and digital society, as well as its significance for

politics and civil society, will be redefined. Science can never offer a universal truth or an objective

representation of the world. It can, however, offer methodologically verifiable interpretations and can

question certainties and trigger reflections. Science has an important social role and at the same time

bears great responsibility precisely when the situation is not clear. How can science communicate

existing uncertainties and disputes clearly and still avoid the impression of arbitrariness?

The interaction between science and society ensures that knowledge is exchanged, tested and

reflected between the various interest groups. This interaction is often referred to as knowledge

transfer. For example, one speaks of knowledge transfer when medical research is applied in practice

or when certain technologies are based on prior research. 

Knowledge is an increasingly important resource in our society. Science contributes significantly to

the production of knowledge and thus contributes to the functioning of democracies, drives

innovation and helps countries to be competitive in the global economy. 

Science can never offer a universal truth or an objective representation of the world. However, it can

question the conditions of validity and trigger reflection. Science thus has an important social role to

play.

References

Books and Journals

Archer, R. 2018. Ausias March and the Baena debate on predestination. Medium
Aevum 62:35-50.
 The need to respect nature and its limits challenges society and conservation
science: Jean-Louis Martin, Virginie Maris, and Daniel S. Simberloff 

Josef de Varies, “Science” in K. Baker (ed.), Philosophical Dictionary, Washington,

W. Brugger, “Physical” in K. Baker, op. cit., p. 309 7

N. Junk, “Physical Science,” in K. Baker (ed.), op. cit., p. 309. 8

W. Brugger, “Technology””, in K. Baker (ed.), p. 411.

Burke, James, 1936- The impact of science on society.

(NASA SP ; 482) Series of lectures given at a public lecture series sponsored by

Science-Social aspects-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Bergman, and the College of

Internet

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1525003113

https://history.nasa.gov/sp482.pdf

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/technology/importance-of-science-and-
technology-in-national-development-essay/8563

https://www.hiig.de/en/science-and-society/

https://www.mext.go.jp/component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/
2011/03/03/1302821_002.pdf

https://www.ipl.org/essay/Impact-Of-Science-And-Technology-On-Human-
F3MSG7ESJF6

https://byjus.com/chemistry/essay-on-importance-of-science-in-our-life/

https://www.nationalacademies.org/evolution/science-and-religion

https://academic.oup.com/book/38556/chapter-abstract/334239434?
redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://history.nasa.gov/sp482.pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2020.1761853