The natural sciences were once closely tied to human concerns. Under the heading of “natural philosophy,” physics and ethics were joined in a continuum along which a student might move without interruption, studying first the mechanics of God’s creation and then the attributes of God Himself, including His moral relation to mankind. By the end of the nineteenth century, the study of nature had been thoroughly disenchanted, in part because of the intensifying demands of research itself, which could be met only if the investigation of the physical world were purged of all moral and theological presumptions. Their elimination left a material universe whose structure could now be described with astounding precision but which was itself devoid of meaning and purpose. As a result, the physical sciences ceased to be concerned with, or to have much to contribute to, the search for an answer to the question of the meaning of life. To the extent that human beings now figured in these disciplines at all, they did so only as physical or biological units subject to the same laws of spiritless motion that govern the behavior of nonhuman bodies as well.
science removes all meaning and morality from the world-->
students find themselves adrift in a world without greater purpose and moral structure-->
religion is the only remaining institution that can fill this existential gap-->
the humanities once participated in this function but as a result of postmodernism, they doubt even themselves and have nothing constructive to say to the world
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