Weber
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In science, each of us knows that what he has accomplished will be antiquated in ten, twenty, fifty years. That is the fate to which science is subjected; it is the very meaning of scientific work, to which it is devoted in a quite specific sense, as compared with other spheres of culture for which in general the same holds. Every scientific 'fulfilment' raises new 'questions'; it asks to be 'surpassed' and outdated. Whoever wishes to serve science has to resign himself to this fact. Scientific works certainly can last as 'gratifications' because of their artistic quality, or they may remain important as a means of training. Yet they will be surpassed scientifically — let that be repeated — for it is our common fate and, more, our common goal. We cannot work without hoping that others will advance further than we have. In principle, this progress goes on ad infinitum. And with this we come to inquire into the meaning of science. For, after all, it is not self-evident that something subordinate to such a law is sensible and meaningful in itself. Why does one engage in doing something that in reality never comes, and never can come, to an end?
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Comentário(s)
"Why does one engage in doing something that in reality never comes, and never can come, to an end?"
Talvez porque o próprio acto de investigação, com todos os seus aspectos excitantes e dolorosos, seja em si mesmo recompensador. Em muitas actividades o prazer que seres humanos retiram na sua realização não reside tanto em atingir um resultado final, mas do processo que conduz a esse resultado.
Posted by: PJ | abril 4, 2007 03:44 PM
Uma Páscoa muito doce e um abraço da Emília e dos Pequenotes.
Posted by: Emília Miranda | abril 5, 2007 03:29 PM