Thank you Anny. That is an interesting interpretation of my position. (01)
As will be made clear in the book, for me a religion is simply a set
of ideas such that we cannot look upon the world without consideration
of them. In this sense, science is my religion. (02)
I should make it clear that I am personally indifferent to the notion
of "God." But I understand its context, the motivation and origin for
its use. In my next lecture, however, I will speak about the view and
motivations of Benjamin Peirce, his son Charles, and the attempt by
them and other radical Unitarians to re-conceive the notion of God in
scientific terms. (03)
But it should be clear that this attempt, led by Benjamin Peirce, from
influences and peer encouragements that can be traced back to Descarte
through Malebranche and the Unitarian logical challenge to divided
conceptions (i.e. Trinity), and articulated in his book "Ideality in
the physical sciences" is rightly paralleled with the positivist and
existentialist movement in Europe during the nineteenth century. (04)
In my view it is a direct parallel to the existentialist challenge to
historical conceptions of divinity. I describe Benjamin as a "cautious
positivist" in that he argued for true positivism (that science may be
universally applied) but did not want science to lose touch with the
deeper cosmological issues and issues of "quality." (In this he, and
the others of his ilk in and around Harvard, were thwarted by
conservative social forces and subsequently Unitarianism lost its
way). (05)
These same motivations led in Europe to a concern over the social
implications of the failure of past conceptions (in the rise of
science and rejection of scripture) and in the absence of an
alternative. A concern expressed in terms that "God is dead." (06)
The social pragmatism of this Harvard centered group was to place our
concerns over the nature of our existence clearly into the domain of
science and to re-conceive of the notion of God in scientific terms. A
view articulated by Charles in his "Neglected Argument." I've been
saying that it is a sort of atheism without the "a," but this is not
quite fair I think since atheism is most generally a form of
materialism. This move acknowledges the common ground in the inquiry
of science and theology on the deeper issues, i.e, the intimate human
inquiry into the nature of the world and our place in it. (07)
Anyhow, this narrative has unfolded before me during the development
of my work and provides the historical context and precedence for it.
It is discussed in one chapter of the forthcoming book and I will
speak of it (working from this chapter) on January 15th when I lecture
at Stanford on the life and work of Charles Sanders Peirce. This
lecture will place Charles in this broader context. As you know, 2014
is the centenary of Charles' death. (08)
For others, if you have not yet caught my lecture last month, you can
see it here: http://youtu.be/zF5Bp_YsZ3M The transcript of the
lecture is available as a book review here:
https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1137409 (09)
Again, my thanks for your kind comments. (010)
Best regards,
Steven (011)
On Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 12:21 AM, Anny Ballardini
<anny.ballardini@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Steven Ericsson-Zenith,
>
> I finally had some time to follow this interesting presentation of your
> book. And if I understand properly, which is also connected with some of
> your previous contributions on this list, the fact that you want to show
> that light is static is an hermetic statement that God exists in an
> ever-present presence. And as far as I can remember, you will be able to
> show mathematically your supposition. This draws back to your previous
> commitment as a religious member of our community. You also say that "new
> ideas are not familiar," but as you know, new ideas are the bread of
> artists, and this goes well along with what research is supposed to be. The
> only difference in-between artistic and scientific research is that the
> latter requires an armamentarium of historical information (precise
> quotations, previous theories) that artistic performance does not have. That
> all belongs to the digestion of art criticism.
> I am wondering in this moment about Leonardo. He simply skipped all previous
> history and created on his own in a gut-lived process that put himself in a
> competition with his own self. Those who play an instrument or paint,
> perfectly know what I am talking about.
> After this book, which I can see as a major contribution to the scientific
> community, maybe you will finally be able to get to pure research, your own.
>
> What might be difficult here for people like me who do not have extended
> studies in mathematics or physics, are the extended drawbacks to these
> specialized sciences.
>
> Anyhow, congratulations, and let us know when the next lecture comes up.
>
> [I have been absent from this list because of several commitments. The major
> one probably being the relapse of my 9 year old niece into leukemia. I am
> shocked by the way she is being treated.]
>
> Best wishes,
> Anny
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 8:47 AM, Steven Ericsson-Zenith <steven@xxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>>
>> Please forgive my cross-posting.
>>
>> The video of my Nov. 13th lecture is now available on YouTube,
>>
>> http://youtu.be/zF5Bp_YsZ3M
>>
>> it includes the first chapter of my forthcoming book. The full
>> transcript is now also available as a book preview here.
>>
>> https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1137409
>>
>> In a follow up lecture on January 15th I will speak about the life and
>> work of Charles Sanders Peirce. In this lecture I will place Charles
>> in the broader context of intellectual developments in and around the
>> formation of Harvard University.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Steven
>>
>>
>> -----------------------------
>> PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON
>> PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dott.ssa Anny Ballardini, MFA, PhD.
>
> http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
> http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
> http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
> http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
>
> I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
> star!
> Friedrich Nietzsche
>
> « Stulta est clementia, cum tot ubique
> vatibus occurras, periturae parcere chartae »
> Giovenale
>
> Professionista di cui alla Legge n. 4 del 14 gennaio 2013, pubblicata nella
> GU n. 22 del 26/01/2013
>
> Freiberuflerin laut Gesetz Nr. 4 vom 14. Jänner 2013, veröffentlicht im
> Amtsblatt Nr. 22 vom 26.1.2013 (012)
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