White, Curtis

Curtis White (1951- ) is an American essayist and cultural critic who has contributed to debates about scientism and religious thought in contemporary society. In The Science Delusion: Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy Answers (2013), White critiques what he sees as the overreach of scientific materialism, particularly its dismissal of philosophical and spiritual dimensions of human experience. He argues that prominent New Atheist writers like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens promote a reductive worldview that impoverishes human understanding by excluding questions of meaning, value, and consciousness that cannot be addressed through empirical methods alone. White advocates for a middle position that respects both scientific inquiry and humanistic wisdom traditions, including certain aspects of religious thought. His work represents a secular humanist critique of scientism rather than a traditional theological defense of God, contributing to discussions about the proper boundaries of scientific explanation and the continuing relevance of philosophical and spiritual inquiry in modern culture.