Van: "Integral World" Aan: Onderwerp: Disenchantment Datum: zondag 4 mei 2014 15:21 INTEGRAL WORLD MAILING LIST =========================== http://www.integralworld.net Newsletter Nr. 503 Amsterdam, May 5th, 2014 BLIND SPOTS OF DISENCHANTMENT - Science, Psychical Research, and Natural Theology in the Early 20th Century - EGIL ASPREM The way things have turned out, the content of my PhD dissertation will revolve around a concept which Max Weber somewhat unsystematically formulated almost 100 years ago: the disenchantment of the world. Disenchantment has usually been described as a socio-cultural process, driven by rationalisation and intellectualisation processes which Weber traced back to the invention of monotheism, and the development of monotheistic theology. It has been embraced by sociologists and historians of religion in particular, who have seen in it (as did Weber) certain consequences for the condition of religion, magic, and their relation to intellectual life (and particularly science) in the modern world. My dissertation is increasingly becoming a criticism of the concept of disenchantment, and an exploration of a more nuanced approach to it as it relates to interfaces between religion, science, and that vast unsystematic and poorly defined set of “the occult”, “esoteric”, and “magical”. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/asprem2.html THE RISE OF THE MYSTERIANS - Reverse Engineering the Brain and the Prakiti of Consciousness - DAVID LANE It is one of those curious ironies that crop up from time to time when reading philosophers that the very mistake they accuse others of making is precisely the same one they make while penning their objections. Colin McGinn's recent review of Patricia S. Churchland's book, Touching a Nerve: The Self As Brain in the New York Review of Books ["Storm over the Brain", April 24, 2014] is a classic case in point. McGinn claims that because Churchland realizes that the brain is the basis of mental activity “your reason to stay a philosopher evaporates.” But Churchland never says such a thing nor does she even imply it. Rather, she states the obvious: it is better to do philosophy with a deep understanding of neuroscience than without it. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/lane74.html SHAVING SCIENCE WITH OCKHAM'S RAZOR: THE SEQUEL - (or, "No, it was not written in support of any form of idealism") - DON SALMON In mid-2013, I had an interesting conversation with the dean of a local philosophy department, a woman with a strong background in Indian philosophy. I talked with her about my paper (published here, on Integral World), ‘Shaving Science With Ockham's Razor’ and noted that I was amazed at how difficult it was for readers to take it at face value—as advocating an open-minded, agnostic stance toward ‘the way things are’, and criticizing science not as ‘wrong’ but simply as veering too far in the direction of proclaiming a certain ‘view’ which in itself, had no scientific basis. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/salmon16.html To SUBSCRIBE to this Integral World Newsletter or change your email address, click here: http://www.integralworld.net/pommo/user/subscribe.php To UNSUBSCRIBE, update your account by logging in. For explanation, see: http://www.integralworld.net/nl_faq.html