Comprehension

Scientism has left humanity in our technical mastery of inanimate nature, but improvised us in our quest for an answer to the riddle of the universe and of our existence in it. Scientism has done worse than that with respect to our status as social beings, that is, to our life with our fellow human beings. The quest for the technical mastery of social life, comparable to our mastery over nature, did not find scientist at a loss for an answer: reason suggested that physical nature and social life were fundamentally alike and therefore proposed identical methods for their domination. Since reason in the form of causality reveals itself most plainly in nature, nature became the model for the social world and the natural sciences the image of what the social sciences one day would be. According to scientism, there was only one truth, the truth of science, and by knowing it, humanity would know all. This was, however, a fallacious argument, its universal acceptance initiated an intellectual movement and a political technique which retarded, rather than furthered, human mastery of the social world. The analogy between the natural and social worlds is mistaken for two reasons. On the one hand human action is unable to model the social world with the same degree of technical perfection that is possible in the natural world. On the other hand, the very notion that physical nature is the embodiment of reason from which the analogy between natural and social worlds derives, is invalidated by modern scientific thought itself.
Physical nature, as seen by the practitioner of sciences consists of a multitude of isolated facts over which human action has complete control. We know that water boils at a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit and, by exposing water to this temperature, we can make it boil at will. All practical knowledge of physical nature and all control over it are essentially of the same kind.
Scientism proposed that the same kind of knowledge and of control held true for the social world. The search for a single cause, in the social sciences, was but a faithful copy of the method of the physical sciences. Yet in the social sphere, the logical coherence of the natural sciences finds no adequate object and there is no single cause by the creation of which one can create a certain effect at will. Any single cause in the social sphere can entail an indefinite number of different effects, and the same effect can spring from an indefinite number of different effects, and the same effect can spring from an indefinite number of different causes.

Question: 1

The author’s attitude towards the application of scientism to the social sciences is best described as one of

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Identify the tone by looking for words like “mistaken,” “fallacious,” or “invalidated” — these indicate criticism rather than approval.
Updated On: Aug 7, 2025
  • committed scrutiny
  • dismissal
  • criticism
  • approval
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The passage strongly critiques scientism’s attempt to treat the social sciences like the physical sciences. The author calls the analogy between the natural and social worlds “mistaken” and argues that this approach has actually retarded human mastery of the social world. Such statements are clearly critical rather than neutral or approving.
- Option (a) “committed scrutiny” implies a neutral investigative stance, which is not the case.
- Option (b) “dismissal” is too extreme; the author critiques the approach but does not completely reject all scientific inquiry.
- Option (d) “approval” is the opposite of the author’s tone.
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Question: 2

According to the author, causes and effects in the social world are

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In cause-effect questions, check whether the author emphasizes simplicity or complexity; here, the emphasis is clearly on unpredictability.
Updated On: Aug 7, 2025
  • unrelated to each other
  • difficult to identify or predict.
  • subject to manipulation at will.
  • reducible to a single cause for each effect.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The author points out that in the social sphere there is no single cause-effect certainty as in the natural sciences. A single cause can lead to many effects, and the same effect can arise from many different causes. This complexity makes causes and effects in the social world difficult to identify or predict.
- Option (a) is wrong — they are related, but in complex ways.
- Option (c) is wrong because the author says they cannot be manipulated at will like physical phenomena.
- Option (d) is directly refuted in the passage.
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Question: 3

Which of the following statements about scientism is best supported by the passage?

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For “best supported” questions, match the statement to the main criticism or praise found in the passage.
Updated On: Aug 7, 2025
  • Scientism provides the basis for mastery of the social world.
  • Scientism is only superficially concerned with cause-and-effect relationships.
  • Scientism is poorly suited to explain social behaviour.
  • Scientism is no longer applicable to the study of the natural sciences.
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The author explains that scientism mistakenly applies the methods of the natural sciences to the social sciences, where cause-effect relationships are not as straightforward. This makes scientism ineffective in fully explaining social behaviour.
- Option (a) is contradicted — the author says it has retarded mastery of the social world.
- Option (b) is inaccurate; the problem is not superficial concern but inappropriate application.
- Option (d) is irrelevant — the criticism is about its application to the social sciences, not the natural sciences.
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Question: 4

As is used in the passage, the term ‘scientism’ can best be defined as

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When defining a term, look for where the author first introduces it and explains its application.
Updated On: Aug 7, 2025
  • belief that the methods of the physical sciences can be applied to all fields of enquiry.
  • faith that human beings can master their own physical limitations.
  • desire to keep the social sciences separate from the physical sciences.
  • opinion that scientists must take moral responsibility for their actions.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The author describes scientism as the reasoning that because causality works in the physical world, it should also be applied to the social world — implying that the methods of the physical sciences are universal. This matches option (a).
- Options (b), (c), and (d) are unrelated to the definition given in the passage.
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Question: 5

In the passage, the author is most concerned with doing which of the following?

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Main concern questions require identifying the central argument or critique that ties the whole passage together.
Updated On: Aug 7, 2025
  • Upholding the primacy of reason over superstition.
  • Attacking a particular approach to the social sciences.
  • Describing a method for achieving control over human social behaviour.
  • Demonstrating the superiority of the social sciences over the natural sciences.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The entire passage critiques the idea of applying physical science methods to the social sciences, showing why this analogy is flawed and counterproductive. This is an attack on a specific methodological approach rather than a promotion of reason over superstition or a superiority argument.
- Option (a) is unrelated.
- Option (c) contradicts the author’s point — he argues against controlling social behaviour via scientism.
- Option (d) is not discussed.
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