UID:
almahu_9949386777602882
Format:
1 online resource
ISBN:
9781000172836
,
100017283X
,
9781003088691
,
1003088694
,
9781000172904
,
1000172902
,
9781000172973
,
100017297X
Content:
This book offers a study of the three evolutions in a circle (cosmos, life, and knowledge) with the aim of discussing human social behavior, a metaphor of the general behavior of nature (from which man derives) within the fluctuating equilibrium between the opposite tendencies to cohesion and shredding; a circularity revealing an indefinite and probably never conclusive run-up of human beings to the knowledge of nature; an analysis that demonstrates any theoretical/practical impossibility to formulate absolute certainties, since it depicts a situation in which man finds himself hovering between a rational way of living and the contradictory modus operandi of mythos. All that, within a society where the powerful communication and transportation technologies give rise to conflicts and fragmentations, where anyone's will to self-distinguishing is enhanced by highlighting any small difference and obscuring any large similarity. The main difference between this book and existing ones stems from its interdisciplinary nature, particularly because it establishes a close connection between three, apparently so different disciplines--cosmology, life sciences, and sociology--compared with respect to their increasing complexity laws, giving rise to always more chaotic configurations.
Note:
Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Acknowledgments -- Part I: Law, Chance, and Evolution -- 1. The Evolution of the Universe -- 1.1 From Lemaître's Prediction to Hubble's Observations -- 1.2 From the Big Bang to Particles -- 1.3 From Thermonuclear Fusion to Neutron Stars -- 1.4 Pulsars, Black Holes, and the Future of the Universe -- 2. The Origin of Life and Its Evolution on Earth -- 2.1 The Anthropic Principle -- 2.2 Nature's Constants and the Conditions for the Existence of Life
,
2.3 The Physical-Climatic Conditions on Earth -- 2.4 The Epochs of Life's Evolution on Earth -- 2.5 Looking for ""Sufficient"" Conditions -- 2.6 What If Matter Were Engraved with Life? -- 3. The Evolution of the Cognitive Experience -- 3.1 Myth and Archetype -- 3.2 The ""Nuclear Conscience -- 3.3 From Mythos to Logos: The ""Extended Conscience -- 3.4 Two Cerebral Hemispheres, Two Logics -- 3.5 A Mixing of Unpredictable Results in the ""Project"" of the Living -- 3.6 The Mental Models of Reality: Filters, Ambiguities, Contradictions -- Part II: Within Society between Mythos and Logos
,
4. Human Societies and the Social Models of Reality -- 4.1 The Pathway of Human Societies -- 4.2 Democracy and Migrations -- 4.3 Stereotypes, Prejudices, and the ""Common Sense -- 4.4 Specialization and Fragmentation, Self-Referencing, and Radicalism -- 5. The Conflict between Faith and Science -- 5.1 God's Idea and the Gaps of Knowledge -- 5.2 Monotheisms Face-to-Face -- 5.3 The Opinion of a Theologian -- 5.4 From a Necessary Dialogue to a Possible Super-Religion -- 6. The Search for Equilibrium -- 6.1 Antinomies' Tension and Control -- 6.2 Tolerance as the First Objective
,
Part III: Integrative and Final Considerations -- 7. Between Dream and Reality -- 7.1 The Unity of Culture -- 7.2 The Myth of Unity and the Theory of Everything -- 7.3 Constraints Posed by the Flow of Time -- 7.4 Utopias: Consoling Fantasies? -- 8. About the More General Meaning of ""Myth -- 8.1 The Positive Role of Myth along the Development of Sciences -- 8.2 Rationality and Myth in Music, Architecture, and Literature -- 8.3 Myth-Reason in Hermann Hesse and Luigi Pirandello -- 9. Where Is Evolution Bringing Us To? -- 9.1 The Open Society and the Mindful Pluralism
,
9.2 The Future Human Society: A Superorganism or a Babel Tower? -- 9.3 A Possible Future for Human Beings -- Afterword -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Author Index -- Subject Index
Additional Edition:
Print version: ISBN 9814877336
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9789814877336
Language:
English
Keywords:
Electronic books.
;
Electronic books.
;
Electronic books
DOI:
10.1201/9781003088691.
URL:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003088691
