Abstract
'What is the relationship between scientific technology, religion, and the human imagination? In asking this question, I do not propose to look for a general answer, one which would simply define each of the terms and then ex- tract the myriad of possible intersections. Nor do I have in mind an exhaustive comparative analysis of the interrelationship of these terms in various societies, past and present. Rather, what I hope to do is to look at one historical convergence of these terms which, as I see it, has given rise to Western civilization as we presently experience it. But I do not intend to stop there. I plan to demonstrate that something was lost between the original convergence and the present situation, a loss which seems to account very well for the present crisis we are experiencing.
My line of argument will begin by suggesting that Western scientific technology was born of utopian images of reality inspired by a Christian worldview. From there I shall take note of the fact that the development of scientific technology has been characterized by a continued loss of utopianism and an etiolation of Christianity. The present, I shall argue, is the result of an idolization of technology which includes dystopian dreams and the death of God. What seems to be needed in the face of this is a revitalization of the human imagination and, as I will suggest in my concluding remarks, a religious ethic of the human imagination.
Recommended Citation
Kastelic, Martin C.
(1980)
"Technology and the Human Imagination,"
University of Dayton Review: Vol. 14:
No.
3, Article 9.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udr/vol14/iss3/9
