The Freedom of Science

The author examines the nature and claim of scientific freedom by defining science and tracing its philosophical basis, emphasizing how contemporary worldviews shape the demand for autonomy. He diagnoses subjectivism as a dominant tendency that treats the thinking subject as its own law and evaluates its limits for reliable knowledge. He explores the tension between free research and religious faith, discussing authority, impartial investigation, common objections, and purported witnesses to incompatibility. He warns against a liberal freedom that dismisses the supernatural and endorses unscientific methods, describing the deleterious intellectual results. Finally, he treats freedom of teaching in ethical and political contexts and reflects on the proper relation between theology, science, and the university.