Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion
Consider the complexity of a living cell after 3.8 billion years of evolution. Is it more awesome to suppose that a transcendent God fashioned the cell at a stroke, or to realize that it evolved with no Almighty Hand, but arose on its own in the changing biosphere?

In this bold and fresh look at science and religion, complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman argues that the qualities of divinity that we revere—creativity, meaning, purposeful action—are properties of the universe that can be investigated methodically. He offers stunning evidence for this idea in an abundance of fields, from cell biology to the philosophy of mind, and uses it to find common ground between belief systems often at odds with one another.

A daring and ambitious argument for a new understanding of natural divinity, Reinventing the Sacred challenges readers both scientifically and philosophically.

1103137171
Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion
Consider the complexity of a living cell after 3.8 billion years of evolution. Is it more awesome to suppose that a transcendent God fashioned the cell at a stroke, or to realize that it evolved with no Almighty Hand, but arose on its own in the changing biosphere?

In this bold and fresh look at science and religion, complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman argues that the qualities of divinity that we revere—creativity, meaning, purposeful action—are properties of the universe that can be investigated methodically. He offers stunning evidence for this idea in an abundance of fields, from cell biology to the philosophy of mind, and uses it to find common ground between belief systems often at odds with one another.

A daring and ambitious argument for a new understanding of natural divinity, Reinventing the Sacred challenges readers both scientifically and philosophically.

11.99 In Stock
Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion

Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion

by Stuart A. Kauffman
Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion

Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion

by Stuart A. Kauffman

eBook

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Overview

Consider the complexity of a living cell after 3.8 billion years of evolution. Is it more awesome to suppose that a transcendent God fashioned the cell at a stroke, or to realize that it evolved with no Almighty Hand, but arose on its own in the changing biosphere?

In this bold and fresh look at science and religion, complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman argues that the qualities of divinity that we revere—creativity, meaning, purposeful action—are properties of the universe that can be investigated methodically. He offers stunning evidence for this idea in an abundance of fields, from cell biology to the philosophy of mind, and uses it to find common ground between belief systems often at odds with one another.

A daring and ambitious argument for a new understanding of natural divinity, Reinventing the Sacred challenges readers both scientifically and philosophically.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465012404
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 01/10/2008
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
Pages: 320
File size: 675 KB
Age Range: 13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Stuart A. Kauffman is Visiting Professor at Harvard Divinity School and Professor at the University of Calgary. He is the founding director of the Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics. He is the author of The Origins of Order and At Home in the Universe. He lives in Calgary, Canada, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents


Preface     ix
Beyond Reductionism     1
Reductionism     10
The Physicists Rebel     19
The Nonreducibility of Biology to Physics     31
The Origin of Life     44
Agency, Value, and Meaning     72
The Cycle of Work     88
Order for Free     101
The Nonergodic Universe     120
Breaking the Galilean Spell     129
The Evolution of the Economy     150
Mind     177
The Quantum Brain?     197
Living into Mystery     230
The Two Cultures     246
Broken Bones     255
Ethics Evolving     259
A Global Ethic     273
God and Reinventing the Sacred     281
Acknowledgments     289
Notes     291
Bibliography     305
Index     307
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