Weekly Reflection 9: Does Science Restrict Literature and Thought?

"All values are topics of debate, and the debate should, according to Lyotard, continue endlessly. The only wrong consists of closing off debate" (Lyotard 355). Post-Modernist Jean-Fancois Lyotard, in The Post-Modern Condition (1979), gives us this idea of Post-Modernist thought in reference to science. Science seeks one, limited, absolute, objective truth that allows us to understand the universe, effectively "closing off debate." There is much propaganda today that supports science as the correct way to the future, "progressing" underdeveloped countries, for example. But for Lyotard, our acceptance of science forces us to forfeit parts of our lives that may be important for us, notably literature.

"Research sectors that are unable to argue that they contribute even indirectly to the optimization of the system's performance are abandoned by the flow of capital and doomed to senescence" (Lyotard 362). With the one absolute truth of science, the "sectors" of society that do not contribute to the one truth will be justifiably marginalized. Literature is one art that is usually seen as being less important to future society - there are no specialized literature jobs in industries. Yet, for many, there is an immense love of literature, creative writing, and thought. Does science cause us to turn out backs on literature and thought?

No doubt superficially, we have turned out backs on literature - literature is viewed as leisure, something unnecessary. However, science and literature seem compatible still. Perhaps science does force us to streamline both production and our lives, but undoubtedly we retain our curiosity that makes us all human. Literature can help fill that curiosity, fulfilling our lives in ways that science cannot. And surely a fulfilled person will be a more motivated worker, thus it seems science and literature go hand in hand.

Works Cited_

Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Foreword: Jean-Francois Lytotard's The Postmodern Condition. Edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Literary Theory: An Anthology Second Edition.

Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition. Edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Literary Theory: An Anthology Second Edition.