History Commons^™

Doing The History Of Science And The Suspension Of Belief, Richard H. Beyler

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1817) described the "suspension of disbelief" as a sort of bargain between the author and the audience necessary to creative literature. Conversely, one might describe the "suspension of belief" as a necessary element of doing the history of science. In modern civilization, science counts as the social institution which delineates the boundaries of knowledge per se, as opposed to belief, opinion, etc. We might describe this as the cultural myth of science--not in the sense of judging its truth or falsehood, but rather in the sense of its being foundational and largely unquestioned in modern society. Yet …