Biases Quote by Phillip E. Johnson
““..."science" as defined in our culture has a philosophical bias that needs to be exposed. On the one hand, science is empirical. This means that scientists rely on experiments, observations and calculations to develop theories and test them. On the other hand, contemporary science is naturalistic and materialistic in philosophy. What this means is that materialist explanations for all phenomena are assumed to exist. And what that means is that the NABT's definition of evolution as an unsupervised process is simply true by definition--regardless of the evidence! It is a waste of time to argue about the evidence if one side has already won the argument by defining the terms.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Darwin on Trial, Phillip E. Johnson, 1991
Science is presented as purely empirical, but its underlying naturalistic materialism shapes what counts as evidence and argument, often pre‑defining conclusions.
In simple terms: Science mixes data with hidden philosophical assumptions.
Key Takeaway
Question those assumptions.
Themes
philosophy of science
bias
empiricism
materialism
Mood
critical
inquisitive
Type
analytical
skeptical
When to use this quote
- academic debate
- policy making
- education curricula
- public discourse
Key Concepts
epistemology
ontology
argumentation
Questions to Reflect On
- How do philosophical commitments shape scientific claims?
- Can we separate data from worldview?
A Different Perspective
Science claims objectivity but rests on contested metaphysics.
