Religion and the Order of NatureThe current ecological crisis is a matter of urgent global concern, with solutions being sought on many fronts. In this book, Seyyed Hossein Nasr argues that the devastation of our world has been exacerbated, if not actually caused, by the reductionist view of nature that has been advanced by modern secular science. What is needed, he believes, is the recovery of the truth to which the great, enduring religions all attest; namely that nature is sacred. Nasr traces the historical process through which Western civilization moved away from the idea of nature as sacred and embraced a world view which sees humans as alienated from nature and nature itself as a machine to be dominated and manipulated by humans. His goal is to negate the totalitarian claims of modern science and to re-open the way to the religious view of the order of nature, developed over centuries in the cosmologies and sacred sciences of the great traditions. Each tradition, Nasr shows, has a wealth of knowledge and experience concerning the order of nature. The resuscitation of this knowledge, he argues, would allow religions all over the globe to enrich each other and cooperate to heal the wounds inflicted upon the Earth. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
Religion and Religions | 9 |
The Order of Nature | 29 |
Philosophy and the Misdeeds of Philosophy | 80 |
The Traditional Sciences the Scientific Revolution | 126 |
The Tragic Consequences of Humanism in the West | 163 |
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according archetypal aspect Bell's theorem Buddhism Cambridge century Chapter Christian conception concerning the order Confucian considered cosmic cosmology cosmos created Creation Descartes despite dharma Divine Order doctrine dominate eco-theology elements emphasized environment environmental crisis esoteric esotericism especially ethics existence fact forms Frithjof Schuon Galileo God's Greek harmony Hermeticism Hesychasm Hindu Hinduism human body Ibid idea intellectual Islamic Jewish Judaism knowledge Kūkai laws Logos London manifestation mathematical meaning metaphysical mind modern science neo-Confucianism non-Western order of nature perennial perennial philosophy perspective philosophy of nature physics Platonic principle Pythagorean Quran reality relation religions religious understanding religious universe religious view Renaissance Renaissance humanism revealed role S. H. Nasr Sacred Science scientific sense Sherrard simply soul spiritual Stoics Sufi symbolic Taoism teachings theologians theology things thinkers thought tion traditional trans transcendent ultimately unity University Press view of nature West Western Wisdom world of nature World Wisdom Books worldview York Press