half-science in Dostoevsky's Demons

[Anonymous No.20589763]

>Reason has never had the power of defining evil and good or separating evil from good, even approximately. On the contrary, it has always mixed them up in a shameful and pitiful fashion, whereas science has found solutions by sheer force. In particular, this is the distinguishing feature of half-science, mankind’s most dreadful scourge, worse than plague, famine and war, and it has been unknown until the present century. Half-science is a despot such as has never been seen until now. A despot who has his high priests and his slaves, a despot before whom all have prostrated themselves with love and superstition such as has been unthinkable until now, before which even science itself trembles and to which it shamefully panders.
when Dosto uses the Russian word polunauka (пoлyнayкa), literally half-science, what exactly is he referring to?
I doubt he simply means pseudoscience, I feel it's more that the application of science in certain areas of human life yields these grotesque, stillborn "truths" which it then tries to push as absolute and final

[Anonymous No.20589798]

>>20589763
Read guenon if you want to understand this fully.

[Anonymous No.20589825]

>>20589798
or we could have an enlightening discussion

[Anonymous No.20589856]

>>20589763
I am almost thinking he is rephrasing the "false knowledge" in 1st Timothy 6:20 Russian Bible, so more like your second idea of pushing bad ideas onto people. It sometimes takes on scientific connotations in the past few centuries and even literally called "science falsely so called" in English. Basically sophistry, people using rhetoric to prove something to you but there's no logic behind it really, just ulterior motives. Paul was referring to cabals and gnostics but in general modern Christians use the phrase as guarding against any kind of knowledge that destroys faith, particularly athiestic science. This kind of enemy is an archetype of the wolf or false teacher in the New Testament and something Dosto was likely aware of.

[Anonymous No.20590014]

>>20589856
half science, maybe Secular Science, the movements of the socialists of the time called their approach to politics scientific, and thought along utopian lines or at least used utopian idealistic propaganda to spread their "science". The promise of the future society "the party is working towards" is what they radicalized people with among other things.

[Anonymous No.20590137]

>>20589763
"Half-science" as in positivist scientific knowledge devoid of any moral character given to it by a religious belief system (ultranationalist russia Orthodox Christianity in Dostoievsky's case).
He is basically lashing out at marxsim and other social sciences at the time that sought to explain human matters in the same way they explained the mechanical functions of the universe, replacing the religious "God-given" morality with a morality system based on scientific knowledge.

[Anonymous No.20590167]

>>20589856
>>20590014
>>20590137
thank you, frens, much appreciated

[Anonymous No.20590186]

>>20590137
This.

You can also read article about пoлyнayкa and authoritarianism, but you'll need to translate it.
https://lit.1sept.ru/article.php?ID=200300903

[Anonymous No.20590194]

>>20590186
thanks a lot! I'm from Eastern Europe so I might not even need to translate it