Critique of Western Philosophy and Social Theory [Hardcover]

The existential drama at the heart of the modern world is the result of a truly cataclysmic transformation in our institutions and modes of belief. It rivals in scope and significance, if it does not surpass, the transformation occasioned by the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Few can still doubt - even if they do not yet appreciate - the comprehensive and global scope of this Second Scientific Revolution. Our fundamental modes of thought and action, institutional structure, personal identity, economic development, and relation to nature, all require radical revision if human life on this planet (and beyond) is to survive and prosper. We are thus confronted with a world whose structures of meaning and corresponding institutional foundations are being undermined, thus presaging a revolutionary transformation. That transformation, however unclear at present, cannot fail to be radical and comprehensive. This work critically evaluates its nature, outlines the structures of an alternative world view and then develops the contours of the social and institutional order it suggests. It concludes with a discussion of practical strategies by which we may reasonably hope to meet the challenges confronting our civilization.PART I: RETHINKING THE WORLD A World in Crisis Living in a World Without God The End of an Era A Ripple in a Field? PART II: REMAKING THE WORLD Telling Our Story Ecosense The Webbed Self: Deconstructing Individualism The American Enterprise Current Patterns and Future Prospects

A surprisingly broad yet detailed tour of the history of ideas, of the development of consciousness, self-consciousness and freedom, of the development and functions of individuals and social relationships, and of the evolution of human nature from pre-humans to modern humans. The book challenges and guides readers to think like they've never thought before as it transforms the current/prevalent world view of things and people and events-blÃs