The Reenchantment of Science: Postmodern Proposals

This is the first volume in the SUNY series in Constructive Postmodern Thought edited by Griffin, who is a professor of philosophy of religion and executive director of the Center for Process Studies. The postmodern world envisaged in this series involves a new science, a new spirituality, and a new society, and all three are viewed as interdependent. This first volume concentrates on developments suggesting that science need not disenchant the world. Griffin lists four major developments: "a new view of the nature of science, a new view of the origin of modern science, new developments within science itself, and reflections on the mind-body problem" (p. 8).

Ten contributions comprise the book, which consists of "Introduction: The Reenchantment of Science," by Griffin; "The Cosmic Creation Story," by Brian Swimme; "Postmodern Science and a Postmodern World," by David Bohm; "The Postmodern Challenge to Biology," by Charles Birch; "The Laws of Nature as Habits: A Postmodern Basis for Science," by Rupert Sheldrake; "Religious World Modeling and Postmodern Science," by Frederick Ferre; "Ecology, Science, and Religion: Toward a Postmodern Worldview," by John B. Cobb, Jr.; "The Postmodern Heresy: Consciousness as Causal," by Willis W. Harman; "Parapsychology and Postmodern Science," by Stanley Krippner; "Of Minds and Molecules: Postmodern Medicine in a Psychosomatic Universe," by David Ray Griffin. Only two of the essays (those by Griffin and Ferre) were previously published.