Secular vs. Sacred Paradigms in Science, Technology, and Economics: Crises of the Enlightenment and Search for an Alternative Paradigm

Authors

  • Necati Aydin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/revival.v3i01.83

Abstract

Abstract

This paper is a polemic directed against the European Enlightenment and its secular paradigm. It argues that by replacing the sacredness with the secular, the Enlightenment project has put civilisation in a state of crisis. By claiming that human beings are self-sufficient, it has turned the self to an “inner god” with a desire to take over the control of the universe. By failing to recognize that a full understanding of the outer universe depends on an understanding of the inner one, it has succeeded in revealing the outer universe to some degree, but at the expense of darkening the inner universe. By substituting the Christian Trinity with the “Secular Trinity” of nature, cause-effect, and chance, it has, despite its achievements in the fields of science, technology and economics, succeeded only in producing a capitalist paradise kept going by “soulless humans, secular science, destructive technology, and an unsustainable consumer culture. The aim of this polemical paper is to propose the Tawhidic paradigm as an alternative: an alternative based on a sacred ontological, epistemological, anthropological, and teleological worldview, and capable of producing human-centered science and technology as well as an economic system that will bring peace and prosperity through moral, intellectual, spiritual and material well-being.

 

Keywords: secularism, science, technology, enlightenment, human nature, sacredness

 

Abstrak

Makrifat sebagai satu projek sekular telah berjaya mendedahkan alam semesta lahiriah pada tahap tertentu tetapi mengakibatkan kejahilan pada alam batiniah. Golongan ini gagal mengenali bahawa pemahaman sepenuhnya alam semesta luaran bergantung kepada pemahaman dalaman atau batiniah. Jadi, beberapa kesilapan yang serius berlaku apabila menggantikan sifat sekular dengan kesucian. Pertamanya, dengan mendakwa bahawa manusia adalah serba mencukupi. Keduanya adalah dengan menolak konsep Tritunggal Kristian dan menggantikannya dengan ‘Tritunggal Sekular’  iaitu alamiah, sebab-akibat dan nasib. Ketiga ialah tindakan mendewakan ego diri. Keempat pula dengan melagakan keegoan diri dengan tuhan-tuhan sekular bagi menguasai alam sejagat. Akibat daripada tindak-tanduk ini telah melahirkan “manusia tidak beroh”, “sains sekular”, “teknologi membinasa”, “budaya kepenggunaan” yang tidak mampan dan banyak krisis lain. Kajian ini menyarankan bahawa kita perlu membangunkan paradigma alternatif yang mempunyai ontologi keramat, epistemologi, antropologi dan pandangan teleologi bagi menghasilkan sains dan teknologi yang berpusatkan manusia di samping satu sistem ekonomi alternatif yang akan membawa keamanan dan kemakmuran melalui kesejahteraan moral, intelektual, spiritual dan material.

 

Kata kunci: sekularisme, sains, teknologi, makrifat, sifat semula jadi manusia, kesucian

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Published

2013-07-11

How to Cite

Aydin, N. (2013). Secular vs. Sacred Paradigms in Science, Technology, and Economics: Crises of the Enlightenment and Search for an Alternative Paradigm. Revelation and Science, 3(01). https://doi.org/10.31436/revival.v3i01.83