The quest for meaning and knowledge represents the theological and metaphysical stages of history. Now, in the scientific stage, man moves not in terms of myth and meaning, not in terms of knowledge, but in terms of utility. The real question, we are told, is not, "What does this mean?," but, "How can I use it?" Man must renounce meaning and knowledge for the pragmatic use of things. The goal of learning therefore is not knowledge but the power to manipulate. In dealing with either men or things, our purpose under pragmatism and relativism becomes not a knowledge of them but the power to manipulate them.

—R. J. Rushdoony, Law and Liberty