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The Descartes Prizes 2004 - Opening speech by Václav Klaus

English Pages, 2. 12. 2004

Ladies and gentlemen,

it is a real pleasure for me to address this ceremonial gathering on the occasion of awarding the Descartes prize for excellence in scientific research and the Descartes prize for excellence in scientific communication. I am delighted that this important event takes place in the historical premises of the Prague Castle. It is symbolic that the prizes are being awarded in Rudolf gallery, named after Rudolf II., who substantially supported scientific research in his time (let me just mention the names of Tycho de Brahe or Johannes Kepler).

The Descartes prize is inextricably linked with international cooperation in science. This is, in my opinion, important. Science is not Czech, neither is it European. It is worldwide. Free movement of ideas across the state frontiers has always contributed to the progress of mankind. Science cannot flourish unless every scientist has the possibility to draw from a vast reservoir of knowledge.

There is no doubt that those of you, who will be awarded today, have substantially contributed to the development of universal knowledge. And I would like to emphasize that it was not necessarily at a “purely scientific” level, but also at the level of employing scientific knowledge for the economic and social advancement.

I am not least delighted to congratulate those, who will be awarded today for promoting scientific knowledge. The results of modern research are very complicated, especially when expressed in scientific language. It is therefore important to promote, explain and clarify scientific results for the general public.

René Descartes’s cogito, ergo sum, (I think therefore I am) represented a symbolic challenge for freeing the human mind from the medieval ideology. His Discourse on Method was a pioneering work in the methodology of science which has had a major impact on advancement of both natural and social sciences. We are aware of it. Descartes’s work is, therefore, in an important way connected with the emancipation of science. But, at the same time, it made possible certain methodological approaches, which have developed into forms that may be problematic, for social sciences in particular.

Descartes’s rationalism (contrasting with empirism of the British philosophers) has given a vent to constructivist approaches in social sciences. The idea that human reason opens the way to knowledge and progress had been taken to absurd levels by those rationalists who viewed reason as a creator of society; they harbored perceptions of wise elites creating a better world. This led right up to social engineering, which ultimately became the basis for the totalitarian regimes of 20th century. We should be aware of that as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely congratulate those of you, who are going to be awarded the Descartes Prize. I wish you, but also all the other scientists present here, much success in your future pursuits. I wish all the guests from abroad the most pleasant stay in Prague and hope they will be happy to be coming back.

Václav Klaus, Prague Castle, December 2, 2004