World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 672

India, China, Arabia, Bebilone etc. can not be dismissed from the domain of science and technology that have paved the way of modem human race to achieve greater heights in the modem era. It began with the copernical revolution in the 17th century A.D., and was nourished by the scientific method of Becon which changed the scinario all together. Previously Philosophers dominated the field of science now scientists, mathematicians and geometrician entered into the domain of Philosophy where hearty welcome awaited them. Science, which took its birth from the womb of Philosophy, the mother of all branches of knowldege established its own settlements and the process of its alianation from the value based philosophy started. In the long run science became valuenutral' and adopted the path of radical materialism, utilitarianism and pragmatism from which the value oriented philosophy of east and west had maintained a distance. The concept of common good, altruism and ultimately the human values established throughout the human history were declared as myth and Utopian ideas also along with the metaphysical postulates. During this period science and technology transformed human society from the stage of worshipper of nature to its conqurer and exploiter, without caring for the consequences that have overtaken human race in the form of Environmental and Ecological crisis as a result of which, the very existence of all objects of nature both organic and inorganic including human beings are at stake. Though the modern men have brought so many revolutions like industrial revolution, technological revolution, green revolution, white revolution, space revolutions etc., but the human values established after arduous experiences of human race spread over millions of years have been the sole casuality due to which science and technology have become grear-free and every now and then a dooms day is being predicated. We have no answer as to why we are still producing the weapons of mass-distruction or why we are spending so much on wandering in space without solving the earthly problems of hunger, mal-nutrition, safe drinking water, affordable sheltors to the millions of have nots, energy, alternative sources of renewable energy, population control, health-care, flood-control, irrigation, education, human rights, justice, transportation and other countless problems challenging the human society ? Why are we not addressing to the alarming problem of the safe disposal of atomic and other wastes, air-pollution, sound-pollusion, water-pollution, ecoogical-imbalance in the form of global warming, Tsunami, earth-quake on a war footing? Is it not a shame on us that still starvation-deaths are taking place on earth and we are boasting of conquring moon, mars and other planets ? Exactly these questions and a lot more have no reasonable answers. The only answer is that science and technology has become hostile to the humanvalues that were established by the human society for common good of the human being at large and it is the pious duty of the philosophers
623