The rejection of tradition and authority as reliable sources of knowledge in favor of observation and ratiocination is typically taken as a basic premise of modern scientific thought. It is closely associated with René Descartes (1596-1650), who sought to build up knowledge of the world on the premise of doubting even the fact of his own existence. But, drawing on the work of the historian of science Thomas Kuhn, M. Anthony Mills argues that such an inherently anti-religious stance is not a necessary precondition for science:

Kuhn’s [argument] is that students learn first by imitation and practice and—assuming they receive a good education—once they strike out on their own, they will have been successfully inculcated into a particular scientific tradition. They will thus be prepared to recognize, pose, and solve scientific problems.

If we take tradition to be antithetical to scientific rationality, Kuhn’s conclusions will appear disquieting. And, indeed, Kuhn’s critics rejected his arguments as “irrationalist.” But if, on the contrary, we take tradition to be essential to rationality, then Kuhn’s conclusions will be not only acceptable but also unsurprising. According to the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, before we can begin to reason at all, we must first acquire the habits necessary to recognize and, ultimately, to replicate rational behavior. To do so, there must first be exemplars that we take to be authoritative—in the moral domain these will be exceptionally virtuous people, in the scientific domain, exceptionally good scientists. To become rational, in other words, one must be educated within a tradition of inquiry.

Science, on this view, is not Cartesian—at least as far as [the rejection of received ideas] is concerned—even if it remains eminently rational.

Where does this leave us? . . . [T]he fact that religious beliefs are not entirely reducible to empirical experience and partly depend upon tradition doesn’t make them irrational or even anti-scientific. Thus a popular way of opposing science and religion starts to look untenable. This hardly means the two become indistinguishable. But it does suggest that science and religion could be conceived of as distinct—but possibly harmonious, even sometimes mutually beneficial—traditions of rational inquiry.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Committee, Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas more sharply than he has previously (at least in public), calling them “sons of dogs.” The eighty-nine-year-old Palestinian Authority president urged the terrorist group to “stop the war of extermination in Gaza” and “hand over the American hostages.” The editors of the New York Sun comment:

Mr. Abbas has long been at odds with Hamas, which violently ousted his Fatah party from Gaza in 2007. The tone of today’s outburst, though, is new. Comparing rivals to canines, which Arabs consider dirty, is startling. Its motivation, though, was unrelated to the plight of the 59 remaining hostages, including 23 living ones. Instead, it was an attempt to use an opportune moment for reviving Abbas’s receding clout.

[W]hile Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians soared after its orgy of killing on October 7, 2023, it is now sinking. The terrorists are hoarding Gaza aid caches that Israel declines to replenish. As the war drags on, anti-Hamas protests rage across the Strip. Polls show that Hamas’s previously elevated support among West Bank Arabs is also down. Striking the iron while it’s hot, Abbas apparently longs to retake center stage. Can he?

Diminishing support for Hamas is yet to match the contempt Arabs feel toward Abbas himself. Hamas considers him irrelevant for what it calls “the resistance.”

[Meanwhile], Abbas is yet to condemn Hamas’s October 7 massacre. His recent announcement of ending alms for terror is a ruse.

Abbas, it’s worth noting, hasn’t saved all his epithets for Hamas. He also twice said of the Americans, “may their fathers be cursed.” Of course, after a long career of anti-Semitic incitement, Abbas can’t be expected to have a moral awakening. Nor is there much incentive for him to fake one. But, like the protests in Gaza, Abbas’s recent diatribe is a sign that Hamas is perceived as weak and that its stock is sinking.