Science and Religion Essay -- History, Witchcraft, Magic

Humans do not engage the military personnel in a neutral way. Instead, we see manhood through the reality that our polish creates. Without culture, humanity would have to continuously reinvent the wheel, perhaps even literally. It casts a web of reality over us that is inescapable. We are constantly in the grip of our culture. Therefore, it isnt surprising to find societies with cultures which differ greatly from ours who add up to very different conclusions about what reality is. When we are confronted with these differences in world views, we are often quick and confident to assert that our way of liveness is superior to others.This is behavior isnt unique to tribes indigenous to foreign lands who desire in so-called primitive religions. It is even true of the Western worlds modern intuition. Science is some other example of the cultural frameworks we persona to understand the world around us. If this is the case, then science too moldiness be part of a web of rea lity created by our culture, and is then not superior (nor inferior) to religion, but rather runs parallel to it. However, the Western theme generally recoils from the idea that science does anything but describe reality in hard, empirical detail. As mentioned, since these cultural frameworks envelope us, we often to not hear them as socially negotiated ways of engaging the world, but rather as absolute and uncontroversial reality. The same is true of both religion and science.The unquestioned nature of this cultural framework was described by anthropologist Evans-Pritchard in his germinal work, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande. In this ethnography, Evans-Pritchard examines how completely encompassing the Azande tradition of magic and witchcraft is to the people.... ...thin the same process. In this way, science seems superior to other methods of engaging the world. However, as we have seen, science has its limitations in describing certain categories of know ledge. It cannot be used to crystalize ethical judgements or learn an ultimate truth. Such areas are remote its scope. In this way, magic and religion provide answers which science cannot.So science is not necessarily superior to religion and magic, neither is it inferior to it. It is another way of engaging the world, one which answers a different set of questions and solves a different set of problems from magic and religion. So long as a cultural framework benefits the society which implements it, it is useful. Furthermore, when these cultural frameworks are as late intertwined with everyday reality as is the case with the Azandes witchcraft, they become necessary.