A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
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irrational, and <strong>the</strong> emergence <strong>of</strong> a new k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> irrationalism--are problematic. The former is<br />
problematic <strong>in</strong> that <strong>the</strong> irrational never really went away—it was simply dethroned. The latter is<br />
problematic for more complex reasons, which I will now elaborate.<br />
In tell<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> story <strong>of</strong> rationalization, it is tempt<strong>in</strong>g to proceed, follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> tendencies<br />
<strong>of</strong> traditional historiography, both with <strong>the</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>the</strong> positivist mode <strong>of</strong> science was<br />
somehow pre-dest<strong>in</strong>ed to triumph and with <strong>the</strong> misapprehension that it fully embodied <strong>the</strong> tenor<br />
and tendency <strong>of</strong> scientific endeavor <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> n<strong>in</strong>eteenth century. Positivism or logical positivism is,<br />
strictly speak<strong>in</strong>g, native to <strong>the</strong> first half <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> twentieth century and <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vienna<br />
Circle. 13<br />
But <strong>the</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>ciples codified by logical positivism had long been operative. One<br />
commonly accepted locus <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> formation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se pr<strong>in</strong>ciples that dates back to <strong>the</strong> beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> previous century is <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> sociologist August Comte. Positivism at its heart is a<br />
philosophy <strong>of</strong> science that dictates certa<strong>in</strong> standards <strong>of</strong> evidence. In a positivist framework, <strong>the</strong><br />
data used to support a <strong>the</strong>ory must be verifiable and/or falsifiable—ideally through direct<br />
observation or experience. Evidence that fails such a standard is a priori <strong>in</strong>admissible. Thus<br />
matters <strong>of</strong> spirit, <strong>in</strong> that <strong>the</strong>y are largely based on faith, <strong>in</strong>tuition and o<strong>the</strong>r non-empirical<br />
faculties, fall outside <strong>the</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> serious consideration. In <strong>the</strong> extreme case <strong>of</strong> what is<br />
sometimes called verificationism statements concern<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> empirically unverifiable would be<br />
denied even <strong>the</strong> status <strong>of</strong> mean<strong>in</strong>gful utterance. 14<br />
With <strong>the</strong> aforementioned understand<strong>in</strong>g that<br />
positivism can somehow be equated with scientific practice <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> n<strong>in</strong>eteenth century, it is easy to<br />
argue that a “new” sacred worldview arises (neo-enchantment) to meet <strong>the</strong> challenge <strong>of</strong> a system<br />
<strong>of</strong> thought—positivism—that seeks to remove <strong>the</strong> sacred from any serious consideration.<br />
13 Richard A. Fumerton, “Logical Positivism” <strong>in</strong> The Cambridge Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Philosophy, ed. Robert Audi<br />
(Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1995) 445-446.<br />
14 Gordon Marshall, “Vienna Circle” <strong>in</strong> The Concise Oxford Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Sociology, ed. Gordon Marshall, (New<br />
York: Oxford University, 1994) 556.<br />
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