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Value-Laden Science: Jan Burgers and Scientific Politics in the Netherlands

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Abstract

The political engagement of scientists is not necessarily left-wing, and even when it is, it can take widely varying forms. This is illustrated by the specific character of Dutch scientific activism in the 1930s and 40s, which took shape in a society where ‘pillarized’ social divisions were more important than horizontal class structure. This paper examines how, within this context, the Delft physicist Jan Burgers developed a version of scientific politics, built on a philosophy of value-laden science.

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Notes

  1. See especially Werskey (1988), McGucken (1984), and Petitjean (1999).

  2. The ‘classical’ authors on politically engaged scientists have also indicated such variety, but given most attention to the radical left. See Werskey (1969) on diversity within the left and McGucken (1978) on the right.

  3. On the Dutch social relations of science movement, see Molenaar (1994), Alberts (1998), and Somsen (2001a).

  4. The standard work on pillarization is still Lijphart (1968) and its series of adapted Dutch translations. See also Kossmann-Putto and Kossmann (1987, pp. 46–47). For revisionist analyses, see te Velde and Verhage (1996a).

  5. Parliamentary democracy started in 1848 in the Netherlands, and the right to vote was expanded in a few steps to universal suffrage for both sexes in 1919. On the origins of the Dutch political system, see de Haan (2003).

  6. The argument is that even though the pillars divided the country ideologically, each of them did mobilize its supporters nationally, and provided institutions that connected people over regions and provinces. See te Velde and Verhage (1996b).

  7. The term ‘Breakthrough Movement’ is sometimes reserved for the period directly after the Second World War, when it became institutionalized in an official organization, and represented in the first post-war government. Historians agree, however, that its main ideas had already developed in the 1930s and during the war. On the history of the Breakthrough Movement, see Bank (1978) and de Keizer (1979). Ten Have (1999) analyses similar anti-pillarization currents.

  8. Van den Bogaard also points to another strategy of using science to overcome pillarization, promoted by Tinbergen’s rival, Ed. van Cleeff. His approach was very similar to Burgers’ discussed below. On Tinbergen, see further Alberts (1998, pp. 253–259).

  9. This and all subsequent translations from Dutch are mine.

  10. On Burgers, see Alkemade (1995). Ehrenfest and his wife were very close to his students, and stimulated much discussion on scientific, political, and philosophical issues. On the impact of this environment, see Alberts (1994).

  11. See an autobiographical document that Burgers wrote in 1954 for his immigration into the United States, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (Amsterdam, IISG), files Johannes Martinus Burgers, document 7. Burgers used to make fun of Marx’s attempt to appear ‘purely scientific’. Personal communication J.H. Burgers (Jan Burgers’ son), 13 January 2007.

  12. Burgers referred to Wells and Nature in most of his political-scientific activities. See also Burgers (1954) and personal communication J.H. Burgers (Jan Burgers’ son), 13 January 2007. On Nature’s politics, see Werskey (1969).

  13. He would especially mention Whitehead’s Process and Reality. An Essay in Cosmology (Whitehead 1929a); Adventures of Ideas (Whitehead 1929b); and Smuts’ Holism and Evolution (Smuts 1936). See e.g. Burgers (1956, pp. 29–30).

  14. Burgers (1940, quotation at p. 101).

  15. This view was most forcefully promoted in the protestant pillar, by leaders like Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck. See e.g. Kuyper (1998, pp. 487–488) and Flipse (2005, pp. 26–36).

  16. See Burgers (1940) and discussions within the Foundation for the Advancement of the Study of the Relation between Science and Society, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (Amsterdam), files Johannes Martinus Burgers. See also Somsen (2001b).

  17. See especially Johan Huizinga (1935). On Dutch cultural pessimism see Aerts and van Berkel (1996). See also Weijers (1991).

  18. Burgers contended, for example, that ‘the practice of science, being an expression of human idealism, has an ethical significance’ (Burgers 1940, p. 98). Moreover, the proposal that led to the establishment of the CSSR mentioned several political choices implied by science itself, such as a defense of the freedom of speech, international cooperation, and anti-militarism. See ‘Memorandum concerning a proposal for the appointment of a committee for investigating the social responsibilities of science and of scientific workers, to be submitted to the meeting of the International Council of Scientific Unions at London in April 1937’, Rijksarchief Noord-Holland (Haarlem), files of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Scientific Unions 455.

  19. Burgers expressed his new ideas in three encyclopedic articles ‘Gemeenschappen (Leer der)’, ‘Holisme’, and ‘Synthetische Wijsbegeerte’ (Burgers 1942a, b, c), and also in ‘Trekken van de Moderne Westerse Wetenschap’ (Burgers 1944). He later published elaborate accounts in Ervaring en Conceptie (Burgers 1956) and Experience and Conceptual Activity (Burgers 1965). The J.S. Haldane book he referred to was The Philosophy of a Biologist (Haldane 1935). In his later work he also incorporated work by Henri Bergson and Lewis Mumford.

  20. Besides the entries mentioned above (Burgers 1942 a–c), Burgers contributed parts to: ‘Contrast’, ‘God’, ‘Leven en Dood’, and ‘Tijd’, (Burgers, 1942d, pp. 131–133; 1942e, pp. 313–315; 1942f, pp. 406–411; 1942g, pp. 762–764).

  21. Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie (Amsterdam), Illegal Brochures Collection, J.M. Burgers, ‘Het Rijksopbouwplan’, 13–14 April 1945, 1–20, quotation at p. 11.

  22. These issues were medical organization, a balance between material prosperity and spiritual life, and (adult) education.

  23. ‘Verzoek om Ondersteuning’, IISG, Studiecentrum voor Maatschappelijke Vraagstukken (SMV). Among the scientists involved were the chemist H.R. Kruyt, physicists H.A. Kraemer and Ph. Kohnstamm, and geodesist F.A. Veningh Meinesz—all related to the Breakthrough Movement. The heads of the planning institutions were: J. Tinbergen (CPB), F. Bakker-Schut of the Rijksdienst voor het Nationale Plan (National Service for Spatial Planning), and Ph.J. Idenburg of the Centraal Bureau for Statistiek (Central Statistics Agency). Contacts in the government included Prime Minister W. Schermerhorn, Minister of Economic Affairs H. Vos, and Minister of Agriculture and Fishery S. Mansholt. On the Study Centre, see also Geelhoed (1999).

  24. Schermerhorn had even been involved in the drafting of the new state organization. See an autobiographical document that Burgers wrote 1954 for his immigration into the United States, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (Amsterdam, IISG), files Johannes Martinus Burgers, document 7 and Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie (Amsterdam), Illegal Brochures Collection, J.M. Burgers, ‘Het Rijksopbouwplan’, 13–14 April 1945. On the constitution request, see SMV-IISG, Burgers to Commissie van Voorbereiding, 9 August 1945; minutes meeting Commissie van Voorbereiding, 15 August 1945; minutes meeting 14 September 1945; Bakker Schut to Commissie van Voorbereiding, 2 October 1945; ‘draft’ J.J. Schokking to Schermerhorn.

  25. This becomes clear from a comparison of drafts of published reports, e.g. Chemical Heritage Foundation (Philadelphia), IUPAC files, typescript ‘Communication from the C.S.S.R.’ to Burgers and Florkin (1950b). For the debate surrounding the establishment of the CSSR, see (Stratton 1950, pp. 17–20.)

  26. Burgers did continue to develop his philosophy as such, which was eventually published in book form. See Burgers (1956, 1965).

  27. His party membership did give him trouble, which is why he had to write the autobiographical document mentioned in note 11. In 1955, he finally received permission to accept the research professorship that had been offered to him at the University of Maryland. See also Alkemade (1995, pp. lxvii–lxix).

  28. ‘Vernieuwing’ (innovation) was the buzzword for the Breakthrough-inspired measures of the Schermerhorn administration.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Anna Mayer, Jessica Reinisch, Gary Werskey, and three anonymous referees for insightful and helpful critiques.

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  1. History Department, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Geert J. Somsen

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Somsen, G.J. Value-Laden Science: Jan Burgers and Scientific Politics in the Netherlands. Minerva 46, 231–245 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-008-9093-z

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