Science, Ideology and Social Transparency

Abstract

In Les ruines one can clearly see the construction of a ‘science’ of society, or of history, emerging out of a critique of religion. It is of only secondary concern that the critique of religion remains so shallow: that the problem of revelation is largely ignored; that the proscription of doubt is made into an effect of power (rather than a consequence of faith); that the intentionality animating the religious discourse is reduced to a secular quest for knowledge of the laws of nature; and that, consequently, religion is incorporated into the history of reason as the latter’s first, naive stumblings. And yet, however much religion is forced, paradigmatically speaking, into the limits of reason alone, the contrast between religion and enlightenment could not be starker. It is not just that enlightenment addresses society and questions it directly, while religion turns its gaze heavenward, stifling any such enquiry; or that enlightenment seeks to provide, in principle, universal access to all discussions of what is just or true, while religion maintains knowledge as the monopoly of a select few. These intuitions are extended much further,.developing into a communications utopia where mutual understanding would be so complete as to command unanimous assent on all matters of significance. Moreover, with the elimination of disagreement, society would be able to eliminate all the barriers that stand between itself and the mastery of its history.