Overview

A world-renowned philosopher's genre-defying exploration of the mystery of consciousness In a blossoming garden located far outside all worlds, a group of aging Greek gods have gathered to discuss the nature of existence, the mystery of mind, and whether there is a transcendent God from whom all things come. Turning to Eros, Psyche asks, ""Do you see this flower, my love?"" So begins David Bentley Hart's unprecedented exploration of the mystery of consciousness. Writing in the form of a Platonic dialogue, he systematically subjects the mechanical view of nature that has prevailed in Western culture for four centuries to dialectical interrogation. Powerfully rehabilitating a classical view in which mental acts are irreducible to material causes, he argues through the gods' exchanges that the foundation of all reality is spiritual or mental rather than material. The structures of mind, organic life, and even language together attest to an infinite act of intelligence in all things that we may as well call God. Engaging contemporary debates on the philosophy of mind, free will, revolutions in physics and biology, the history of science, computational models of mind, artificial intelligence, information theory, linguistics, cultural disenchantment, and the metaphysics of nature, Hart calls readers back to an enchanted world in which nature is the residence of mysterious and vital intelligences. He suggests that there is a very special wisdom to be gained when we, in Psyche's words, ""devote more time to the contemplation of living things and less to the fabrication of machines.""

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Reviews

“The purportedly science-based picture of reality known as physicalism (or materialism) is an historical and cultural aberration, a caricature inadequate in human and scientific terms, and must be superseded. This informed and powerful book points the way.”—Edward F. Kelly, lead author of Irreducible Mind “David Bentley Hart is well established as one of the greatest living writers on theology and the cosmos. This book, a telling counter-argument to reductionist materialism, is as one has come to expect: subtle, imaginative, beautifully written—and highly original.”—Iain McGilchrist, author of The Matter of Things “This is a playful but also deeply serious and moving study of mind, life, language, and understanding. It should be read and enjoyed by anyone with an interest in understanding our own place in the world.”—Stephen R. L. Clark, author of From Athens to Jerusalem “I urge you to read this book—for its wit, its scholarship, and its reminder that, regardless of one’s philosophical stance, we should never forget to be astonished and moved to contemplation by the existence of life and mind.”—Philip Ball, author of How Life Works “Fresh, learned, and, above all, imaginative, this book will encourage the sympathetic, stimulate the perplexed, and provoke the materialists.”—Nick Spencer, author of Playing God: Science, Religion and the Future of Humanity

“[A] masterpiece. . . . The most thorough and rigorous account of the nature of reality to be published in a century. . . . This volume should be the starting place for all future discussions of the reality of God and the plausibility or implausibility of materialist accounts of existence.”—James Matthew Wilson, World Magazine “Powerfully rehabilitating a classical view in which mental acts are irreducible to material causes, [Hart] argues through the gods’ exchanges that the foundation of all reality is spiritual or mental rather than material.”—Frank Nugent, Church Times “The purportedly science-based picture of reality known as physicalism (or materialism) is an historical and cultural aberration, a caricature inadequate in human and scientific terms, and must be superseded. This informed and powerful book points the way.”—Edward F. Kelly, lead author of Irreducible Mind “David Bentley Hart is well established as one of the greatest living writers on theology and the cosmos. This book, a telling counter-argument to reductionist materialism, is as one has come to expect: subtle, imaginative, beautifully written—and highly original.”—Iain McGilchrist, author of The Matter of Things “This is a playful but also deeply serious and moving study of mind, life, language, and understanding. It should be read and enjoyed by anyone with an interest in understanding our own place in the world.”—Stephen R. L. Clark, author of From Athens to Jerusalem “I urge you to read this book—for its wit, its scholarship, and its reminder that, regardless of one’s philosophical stance, we should never forget to be astonished and moved to contemplation by the existence of life and mind.”—Philip Ball, author of How Life Works “Fresh, learned, and, above all, imaginative, this book will encourage the sympathetic, stimulate the perplexed, and provoke the materialists.”—Nick Spencer, author of Playing God: Science, Religion and the Future of Humanity

Author Information

David Bentley Hart is a philosopher, scholar of religion, writer, and cultural commentator. His books include The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss and Roland in Moonlight. His current position is collaborative researcher at the University of Notre Dame.

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