VII The ‘Religion’ of the Modern Age

The ‘Religion’ of the Modern Ag physiologists, chemists, and physicists in the laboratories of his clinic. None of these scientists is ever given the direction of the treatment of the patients. An economist, an endocrinologist, a social worker, a psychoanalyst, a biological chemist, are equally ignorant of man. They cannot be trusted beyond the limits of their own field. Scores of such institutions have already devoted their activities to worthwhile tasks in different fields, but their researches are not equal to the task in hand. Mathematics, physics, and chemistry are indispensable but not basic sciences in the researches concerning living organisms. They are not capable of constructing the concepts specific to the human being. The biological workers of tomorrow must realize that their goal is the living organism and not merely artificially isolated systems or models: that general physiology, as considered by Bayliss, is a very small part of physiology. We know that the evolution of humanity is very slow, that the study of its problems demands the lifetime of several generations of scientists. We need, therefore, an institution capable of providing for the uninterrupted pursuit for at least a century of the investigations concerning man. Modern society should be given an intellectual focus, an immortal brain, capable of conceiving and planning its future. (pp. 261-67) These dicta of Carrel sum up the thoughts of those who, after forsaking religion based on God, want to develop a religion made by man. In making a review of human knowledge, Carrel has pointed out how many unknown corners are there in human life. He rounds off his 300-page book with these words: For the first time in the history of humanity, a crumbling civilization is capable of discerning the causes of its decay. For the first time it has at its disposal the gigantic strength of science. Will we utilize this knowledge and this power? It is our only hope of escaping the fate common to all great civilizations