IMPERIALISM AND SCIENCE 5 Aristotelian, magical animistic, alchemical, hermiticist and other images of nature—for this philosophy alone offered the prospect of, and served to legitimate, human (read rising capitalist class) control of and power over the natural world. It was the mechanical philosophy alone that declared the entire universe to be in principle raw material for the benefit of homo faber (read capitalist class). Conversely, it was the mechanical philosophy's image of nature that capitalist relations of production in turn reinforced—and eventually established—as the only rational image of nature. This mechanical philosophy has remained unaltered in its essence^ although its form has changed with time. It is the basis of present day 'physicalist reductionism5 which attempts to ^explain* all phenomena, whether physical, biological or human and social, in terms of physics and chemistry, that is to reduce all phenomena to their ^basic' physical properties in terms of the properties l»f the ^ultimate* constituents of matter, the so-called elementary particles. All phenomena which do not fit into the physical-reductionist scheme are regarded as unnecessary irritants, which scientists could do without. Thus J Monod writes: ^We might say, the existence of a living being (an organism with sentience, perception, cognition, consciousness) is a constant challenge and a menace to the postulate of objectivity"—a line of reasoning which would make living beings a challenge and a rrenace to the development of science.8 This science, then, with its objectivity and rationality, both represents and reflects the point of view of the ruling capitalist class which regards the natural world as consisting of raw material, in part immensely complex raw material (namely working-class men and women) but raw material nonetheless, to be used in production for its own benefit. • Science is now firmly and oveiwhelmingly integrated into the capitalist relations of production. Practically all science is now done under capitalist state patronage or in the laboratories run by big capitalist firms. Most science is goal oriented, being geared to two broad areas of social existence: production and social-control. Production science is science for profit, science for the accumulation of capital, and is concerned with developing industrial capacity, exploiting new materials and increasing profitability. Socnl control science takes two forms: it concerns itself with either defence against potential external enemies, or the development of techniques for the pacification, manipulation and control of the indigenous population. If one examines thearnual ^science budgets' of Britain or the United Stites, one finds that between 75 and 90 percent of the annual total comes under these two heads (77 percent in Britain in 1974-75, 80 percent in the US in the fiscal year 1975).9 A recent book, The Technology of Political Control, documents the development of the science of control in great detail.10 It is industrialized, militarized and bureaucratized science which is being developed and practised in the advanced capit ^list countries, and it is this science