The role of science can sometimes be overstated, with its advocates slipping into scientism. Scientism is the view that the scientific description of reality is the only truth there is. With the advance of science, there has been a tendency to slip into scientism, and assume that any factual claim can be authenticated if and only if the term ‘scientific’ can correctly be ascribed to it. The consequence is that non-scientific approaches to reality ― and that can include all the arts, religion, and personal, emotional and value-laden ways of encountering the world ― may become labelled as merely subjective, and therefore of little __________ in terms of describing the way the world is. The philosophy of science seeks to avoid crude scientism and get a balanced view on what the scientific method can and cannot achieve.

* ascribe: 속하는 것으로 생각하다 ** crude: 투박한