VII The ‘Religion’ of the Modern Age

The ‘Religion’ of the Modern Ag just repetition in different words of the concept of the mechanistic psychologists of the nineteenth century, because the only valid information that can be acquired on man is of a purely descriptive nature relating to his material aspects. It follows that those who want to understand man by treating him in isolation from religion, will be no different in their final judgement from the 19th century materialists. 2. The writer makes the point that unconnected individuals specializing in their respective fields cannot discover a truly human science. It is rather a single individual with a sound knowledge of all basic sciences who would be successful in this domain. Such a synthesis cannot be obtained by a simple, round table conference of the specialists. It requires the efforts of one man, not merely those of a group. A work of art has never been produced by a committee of artists, nor a great discovery made by a committee of scholars. The syntheses needed for the progress of our knowledge of man should be elaborated in a single brain. (p. 55) But to find a man who is truly capable of producing such a synthesis of all knowledge is almost impossible under present circumstances. This is because man suffers the temporal limitations of the normal human life span, the laws governing which are inexorable. No method ever having been discovered to stay the advent of old age and death, the time available for such work is barely sufficient to master one of the scientific fields in its entirety, far less all of the fields which have been explored till today. The writer has suggested a period of 25 years as being sufficient to master all of the fields that it would be necessary to study. This is, indeed, a daring idea. But is it feasible? Not, if we are to judge by the many unsuccessful examples of interdisciplinary studies which have been undertaken to date. Even the study of a single subject can swallow up a whole lifetime. Karl Marx, for example, had wanted to study only economics and he devoted 35 years of his life to this