What might a society that utilizes the valuable insights from the perspectives of philosophy, religion, and social science look like? This volume examines these principles to improve our social institutions, from education, social welfare, government, and criminal justice to the economy. The contributors apply their knowledge in a hands-on, practical way, making this book accessible to teachers, police officers, social workers, economists, congressional legislators, and undergraduates. Professors and students across all these areas will find a real-world application of their subjects. Those who think 'big-picture' about society or have a general interest in philosophy, religion, or social science will find ideas here that will spark their imagination and, perhaps, action.
What might a society that utilizes the valuable insights from the perspectives of philosophy, religion, and social science look like? This volume examines these principles to improve our social institutions, from education, social welfare, government, and criminal justice to the economy. The contributors apply their knowledge in a hands-on, practical way, making this book accessible to teachers, police officers, social workers, economists, congressional legislators, and undergraduates. Professors and students across all these areas will find a real-world application of their subjects. Those who think ‘big-picture’ about society or have a general interest in philosophy, religion, or social science will find ideas here that will spark their imagination and, perhaps, action.
Consider the woven integrated complexity of a living cell after 3.8 billion years of evolution. Is it more awe-inspiring to suppose that a transcendent God fashioned the cell, or to consider that the living organism was created by the evolving biosphere? As the eminent complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman explains in this ambitious and groundbreaking new book, people who do not believe in God have largely lost their sense of the sacred and the deep human legitimacy of our inherited spirituality. For those who believe in a Creator God, no science will ever disprove that belief. In Reinventing the Sacred, Kauffman argues that the science of complexity provides a way to move beyond reductionist science to something new: a unified culture where we see God in the creativity of the universe, biosphere, and humanity. Kauffman explains that the ceaseless natural creativity of the world can be a profound source of meaning, wonder, and further grounding of our place in the universe. His theory carries with it a new ethic for an emerging civilization and a reinterpretation of the divine. He asserts that we are impelled by the imperative of life itself to live with faith and courage-and the fact that we do so is indeed sublime. Reinventing the Sacred will change the way we all think about the evolution of humanity, the universe, faith, and reason.
"Reinventing Discovery argues that we are in the early days of the most dramatic change in how science is done in more than 300 years. This change is being driven by new online tools, which are transforming and radically accelerating scientific discovery"--
This work shows how the drive to conquer nature, explore and settle the globe, springs from a utopian pastoral impulse throughout Western history. It traces the idea of rebuilding the primeval garden from its origins to its latest incarnations in shopping malls, theme parks and gated communities.
In April 1947, a group of right-leaning intellectuals met in the Swiss Alps for a ten-day conference with the aim of establishing a permanent organization. Named “an army of fighters for freedom” by Friedrich Hayek, they would at times use “neoliberalism” as a description of the philosophy they were developing. Later, many of them would opt for "classical liberalism” or other monikers. Was their liberalism classical or was it new? All new creeds build on previous ones, but the intellectuals in question were involved in an explicit attempt to change liberalism and move beyond both past laissez-faire ideals and the social liberalism popular at the time. This book provides a contextual, historical understanding of the development of neoliberal ideas, by studying its evolution from the first socialist calculation debates in Red Vienna to the founding meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947. The author examines key neoliberal conceptions of totalitarianism, market mechanisms and states, and presents a detailed study of the discussions during the first meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society. Offering a new perspective on the ideas that have influenced economics and politics since the 1970s, this study appeals to scholars interested in modern and political history, political theory and the history of economic thought. "What is neoliberalism? In search of an answer, Innset’s innovativeintellectual history takes us to a grand hotel overlooking Lake Geneva, and inside the first meeting of the Mont Pèlerin Society. Our journey leaves us with a deeper understanding of the new form of liberalism that is the legacy of this closed society." Edward Nik-Khah, Professor of Economics, Roanoke College “Reinventing Liberalism will put an end to endless debates around whether neoliberalism exists or not. Ola Morris Innset clearly shows that it does and presents a definitive argument for what neoliberalism is. This book is a must read for all those who want to have a solid understanding of the ideology that is framing and increasingly visibly endangering our world....” Marie Laure Salles-Djelic, Sciences Po Paris
This volume includes eleven original essays that explore and expand on the work of Don Ihde, bookended by two chapters by Ihde himself. Ihde, the recipient of the first Society for Philosophy and Technology's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, is best known for his development of postphenomenology, a blend of pragmatism and phenomenology that incorporates insights into the ways technology mediates human perception and action. The book contains contributions from academics from Europe, North America, and Asia, which demonstrates the global impact of Ihde’s work. Essays in the book explore the relationship between Ihde's work and its origins in phenomenology (especially Husserl and Heidegger) and American pragmatism; integrate his philosophical work within the embodied experience of radical architecture and imagine the possibility of a future philosophy of technology after postphenomenology; develop central ideas of postphenomenology and expand the resources present in postphenomenology to ethics and politics; and extend the influence of Ihde's ideas to mobile media and engineering, and comprehensively assess the influence of his work in China. The book includes a reprint of the Introduction of Sense and Significance, one of Ihde's first books; "Hawk: Predatory Vision," a new chapter that blends his biographical experience with feminism, technoscience, and environmental observation; and an appendix that lists all of Ihde's books as well as secondary sources annotated by Ihde himself. Starting with an Editors' Introduction that offers an overview of the central ideas in Ihde's corpus and concluding with an index that facilitates research across the various chapters, this book is of interest to a diverse academic community that includes philosophers, STS scholars, anthropologists, historians, and sociologists.
This book offers a unique analysis of how ideas about science and technology in the public and scientific imaginations (in particular about maths, logic, the gene, the brain, god, and robots) perpetuate the false reality that values and politics are separate from scientific knowledge and its applications. These ideas are reinforced by cultural myths about free will and individualism. Restivo makes a compelling case for a synchronistic approach in the study of these notoriously 'hard' cases, arguing that their significance reaches far beyond the realms of science and technology, and that their sociological and political ramifications are of paramount importance in our global society. This innovative work deals with perennial problems in the social sciences, philosophy, and the history of science and religion, and will be of special interest to professionals in these fields, as well as scholars of science and technology studies.
Temples of Modernity uses ethnographic data to investigate the presence of religious ideas and practices in Indian science and engineering. Geraci shows 1) how the integration of religion, science and technology undergirds pre- and post-independence Indian nationalism, 2) that traditional icons and rituals remain relevant in elite scientific communities, and 3) that transhumanist ideas now percolate within Indian visions of science and technology. This work identifies the intersection of religion, science, and technology as a worldwide phenomenon and suggests that the study of such interactions should be enriched through attention to the real experiences of people across the globe.
