Originally published in 1971 Evolution - Revolution is an interdisciplinary volume examining inquiry around the central topic of evolution and revolution. Containing contributions from a number of eminent academics of the time, the book addresses the meaning and application of evolution and revolution in the context, not of what things are, or even how they behave, but how they become. The broad interdisciplinary range of essays explores this concept through the idea of development and change and argues that both change, (...) and development must be measured against concepts of flux and that which endures. The editors of the book suggest that these are the 'invariants' which contemporary thinkers are beginning to accept as the process-counterparts of Platonic 'immutables'. Thus this volume examines the two 'immutables' of evolution and revolution. The book covers the concept through essays in science, philosophic concepts of rationalism and existentialism, art and religion. P>. (shrink)

Soviet philosophy can no longer be ignored by any serious student of contemporary thought. It is the work of academic philosophers who, on the whole, are neither more nor less competent than their colleagues in the free world. They have, however, inherited a reputation for the dogmatic repetip. on of superannuated doctrines. This reputation, en gendered by poor work under political pressure, was justified until about the mid-fifties. However, in the mid-sixties, when declining pressures make for the toleration of a (...) wider scale of qualified opinion, it is no longer that. The present survey of Soviet thought in the mid-sixties, comprising papers by Western specialists in its major domains, gives an up-to-date account of an impressive field of philosophical endeavor which, awakened from dogmap'c slumbers, rapidly gains in interest and encourages hopes of becoming a valuable component in the vast complex of contemporary philosophy. The studies on Soviet logic and atheism have originally appeared in a special issue of Inquiry (Vol. 9,1) devoted to philosophy in Eastern Europe and edited by the present writer on behalf of Professor Arne Naess. The other papers of this volume are reprinted from Studies in Soviet Thought, the only Western philosophical review entirely dedicated to systematic studies in this field. The necessary permissions by editors and publishers have been granted and are gratefully acknowledged. ER VIN LASZLO v CONTENTS INTRODUCTION J. M. (shrink)

Festschriften, when they are haphazard collections of pieces written by colleagues and well-wishers on the occasion of a major anniversary in the life of a distinguished man, tend to be tedious. One can more profitably go directly to the writings of the celebrant, as well as other, more voluntary publications of his well-wishers. However, the editors wish to claim that this Festschrift is different. This is so first of all because of the almost unique combination of interests and competence of (...) Henry Margenau. He is at once a distinguished physicist, an equally distinguished educator, and a prominent philosopher. These broad areas of his extraordinarily active and fruitful career are each represented in this volume in his honor, and this constitutes the particular interest of the collection. Without limiting themselves to paraphrases or empty compliments, the contributors to this book range over the scope of interest of Margenau's work, and, acknowledging its influence and significance, present their own viewpoints and conclusions. Since they include some of the most distinguished men in science and philosophy today, the privilege of having them speak to some broadly defined common concerns in a single volume is a rare one, for which our thanks must go to Henry Margenau, who inspired the papers. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:William Robertson’s History of Manners in German, 1770–1795László KontlerThe work I have had in preparing this new edition of Robertson’s History of Charles V has not been very agreeable. To compare an already existing translation line by line with the original... costs more trouble than a new translation would require. I do not flatter myself that I have noticed everything that could have been improved, and would hardly undertake (...) such a task for a second time.... 1Anybody familiar with the frustrating side of editorial work can only sympathize with the sentiments expressed in these sentences by Julius August Remer, the editor of the second German edition of William Robertson’s The History of the Reign of Emperor Charles V in 1779. What makes this complaint somewhat peculiar is that just shortly before its author had spoken very highly about their object: “The translator, the late councillor Mittelstedt had too much wisdom and common sense, and was too proficient in both languages... to produce a translation that is not faithful,” and the “excellent book” only needed to be supplemented with a few notes in order to improve its accuracy. 2 Nevertheless, a few years later Remer thought it appropriate to revise Robertson’s work completely, radically changing its structure and its organizing principles and adding substantially to its size. In the process much of the meaning of the [End Page 125] original was lost; and what was gained instead bore the imprint of the environment, the personality, and the limitations of the stature of the new author. At the same time Robertson’s History—in the original, in Mittelstedt’s translation, and in Remer’s version alike—was held in considerable esteem in German-speaking areas well into the nineteenth century. 3A study of the patterns of thought involved in its several incarnations may offer an insight into the way of the transmission of ideas through cultural boundaries. Looking at the German publishing history of the celebrated Scottish historian William Robertson’s greatest accomplishment between the 1770s and the 1790s, this article is intended as a contribution to the study of the limits of translatability as well as of the intellectual horizons of cultural exchanges, through translation, between such different enlightened intellectual communities as those of late-eighteenth-century Scotland and North Germany. 4Although it is only recently that William Robertson has started to emerge from the obscurity he suffered in the shadow of the more glittering names of the Scottish Enlightenment, an analysis of the ways in which he was influential no longer needs either to be defended or prefaced by a survey of his various activities. Robertson is the protagonist of Richard B. Sher’s study of Church, academe, and polite society in Edinburgh; and his character and oeuvre as a historian have been analyzed from several points of view. 5 Robertson’s contemporary admirers already placed him on a par with Hume and Smith, describing him as a chief component in Scotland’s “strong ray of philosophic [End Page 126] light.” 6 His “combination of philosophy and history” was said to have avoided, more successfully than all others, “the inconveniences which it threatens.” 7 Indeed, his History of Charles V was one of the most formidable eighteenth-century attempts to use “stadial” or conjectural history—which figured prominently not only in the thought of the Scottish theorists but also of the French physiocrats and the German-Swiss thinker Isaak Iselin—as a conceptual background to his account of the historical process as a result of which the foundations of modernity were laid.Such development studies were deemed essential to the proper understanding of contemporary commercial society; and especially in the long introduction of Robertson’s work, A View of the Progress of Society in Europe from the Subversion of the Roman Empire to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century, “descriptive and narrative history” 8 were magisterially interwoven to produce a richly documented piece of historiography. It also offered an overview of the natural succession of various stages in people’s mode of subsistence from hunting through shepherding and agriculture to commerce and the ways in which these gave rise... (shrink)

Dr. Laszlo’s hypothesis (2009) is in my opinion appealing on many levels. He proposes that phenomena of apparent transpersonal communication between human beings are due to the intermediary of information-carrying holograms in the reactive quantum vacuum produced by human brain activity. He also suggests that valid information regarding the world in general is available through the same mechanism, on the grounds that all material objects “excite the ground state of the [zero point] fi eld” and produce further such holograms. (...) On this hypothesis we are literally immersed in a sea of information, with the capacity for accessing that information as well as producing more of it by our own thought processes. (shrink)

This article represents a concerted Laszlo effort. What you will find here is a collection of autobiographical reflections written by Ervin Laszlo that speaks to his involvement with the field of systems thinking and his impact on it, interspersed with comments and illustrative examples on points of special interest. As such, this essay should be read as a reflection piece?one in which a new generation of Laszlos muse on the power and inspiration of the vision that has (...) served as a platform not only for them but for many others in the systems community as well. To understand Ervin Laszlo and his contributions to the systems view of the world, one must place him in context?both ontologically and epistemologically. This narrative will do both, first presenting a chronological overview of his personal history up to the present and subsequently exploring the world of ideas and ideals that he traversed (and continues to traverse with unrelenting momentum). However, this narrative will inevitably be nonlinear, and bits and pieces of his adventure in thought are woven into his chronological development and vice-versa. (shrink)

"The Consciousness Revolution is an extrodinary discussion among three of the very finest minds of our time, spirited in its exchange, compassionate in its embrace, brilliant in its clarion call to awaken our conscience and consciousness." Ken Wilber, author of Sex, Ecology, Spirituality and One Taste.

This book offers an original hypothesis capable of unifying evolution in the physical universe with evolution in biology; herewith it lays the conceptual foundations of ?transdisciplinary unified theory?. The rationale for the hypothesis is presented first; then the theoretical framework is outlined, and thereafter it is explored in regard to quantum physics, physical cosmology, micro- and macro-biology, and the cognitive sciences (neurophysiology, psychology, with attention to anomalous phenomena as well). The book closes with a variety of studies, both by the (...) author and his collaborators, sketching out the implications of the hypothesis in regard to brain dynamics, cosmology, the concept of space, phenomena of creativity, and the prospects for the elaboration of a mature transdisciplinary unified theory. The Foreword is written by philosopher of science Arne Naess, and the Afterword is contributed by neuroscientist Karl Pribram. (shrink)

Evolution in the sense of the new paradigm embraces not only the emergence of biological species but also development in the cosmos and in history. It means ?grand synthesis,? or general theory of evolution. Its roots lie in the search for meaning that inspired systematic thought since its inception: its historical antecedents go back to the Ionian natural philosophers. Today the evolutionary paradigm frames invariant scientific concepts that appear in specific transformations in the physical, the biological, and the human and (...) social disciplines. The new general laws of evolution exhibit overarching orders that encompass nature as well as humanity and respond to a perennial search for unity and meaning in experience. (shrink)

First Published in 1970. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The thesis advanced in this paper is that human experience encompasses not only elements registered by the exteroceptive and interoceptive senses, but also elements received intuitively, in a direct and spontaneous mode. Findings at the cutting edge of quantum physics and brain research support the hypothesis that the brain can receive information not only through nerve-signals conducted from the senses but also through quantum resonance at the level of cytoskeletal structures. Confirmation of this hypothesis would provide a physical foundation for (...) the spontaneous intuitions that surface occasionally in consciousness. Recognizing that some varieties of intuitions are bona fide perceptions of the world beyond the brain and body would enlarge our view of the scope of human experience and support assumptions about the existence of subtle informational ties between humans, as well as between humans and nature. Keywords: apprehension—intuition—information—nonlocality—quantum physics—quantum brain theory. (shrink)

The conflict between science and religion is not irremediable: the world concept of science is changing, and the change brings about a rapprochement with religious beliefs in some fundamental areas. One such area is the question of original creation. Recent findings regarding the nature of the universe show the improbability of its having arisen in the course of a random process. The perennial religious intuition of a transcendental act of creation is a logical entailment of the randomly entirely improbable fine (...) tuning of the natural laws and processes that the observed universe manifests. (shrink)

Explores the truth of human existence and human consciousness, presenting a view of our lives as an infinite existence in spacetime and beyond spacetime to resolve the paradoxes of our commonly held scientific conceptions of the nature of the cosmos and show a way toward a sustainable global civilization.

There is a branch of modern medicine that relies on information rather than on biochemical substances to maintain health and cure disease. Known as information medicine, it offers an important complement to the dominant biochemical approach of mainstream medicine. This note offers a few reflections on the potentials of information medicine in reference to what is currently known regarding the role of information in the universe, and in the living organism.

The purpose of this 'Introduction' is to provide an objective approach to the study of contemporary East-European dialectical materialism. It consists of three parts. Part I outlines the common features of the standpoints of East-European philosophers, defining a set of basic propositions functioning as universally accepted premisses of dialectical materialist philosophic construction. Part II considers the hierarchy of East-European philosophic life and sketches the conditions of philosophic activity. Part III draws analogies and points out the differences between contemporary philosophy in (...) Eastern Europe and the West (the latter exemplified by Anglo-Saxon philosophy). It is found that differences are no longer categorical, but consist of gradations of emphasis on common or analogous elements. (shrink)

Whether one believes in science, or opts for other modes of apprehending reality depends on the values he happens to possess. And since further reasons depend on these values, these values cannot be justified by further reasons. We have reached rock bottom, and it turned out to be a morass of values. But this is not the end of the story. The values which shape our preferences for modes of knowledge cannot be deduced from bodies of knowledge without circularity, but (...) the values of the bodies of knowledge can be matched against the values we do possess. A culture that is fit enough for survival and rich enough for enjoyment is a widely shared human value. To assure such a culture, a rigorously tested system of empirical know- ledge must be at hand. Knowledge through illumination, and an aconceptual and arational set of insights are of little use in this regard. Knowledge must satisfy the knower, as Whitehead emphasized, and the essential freedom of choosing one's mode of knowledge is rooted in the satisfactions which different modes bring to different people. This freedom is not restricted by compelling evidence in favor of the truth of one mode of knowing over the others. Individually, we have the freedom to believe in whatever mode of knowledge we wish, by affirming the appropriate values and criteria. But collectively we must exercise care that enough of us opt for scientific knowledge, not to assure us of grasping immutable truth, but to present us with the enduring conditions under which we can individually pursue the modes of knowledge we prefer. (shrink)

Communist ideology is evolving away from its original mould. One of the decisive factors in this process is the rate of acceptance of the 'Classical' doctrines by the intellectuals of East-European countries. In determining the dynamics of the process, the original doctrines and the thinking of the intellectuals are taken as sets of sentences constituting the premisses, and the manifest actual discourse of a Communist country as the set of sentences representing the conclusion. To demonstrate the conclusion from the premisses, (...) heuristic laws are formulated accounting for the various factors conditioning the process of the interaction of Classical Communism and the thinking of the intellectuals. A logical schema of general applicability results, demonstrating the various phases of the evolution of Marxist-Leninist ideology in East-European countries. (shrink)

(1998). The new enterprise culture in Hungary: The role and responsibility of global companies. World Futures: Vol. 52, The Evolution of the Culture of the Enterprise: Lessons for and from Hungry, pp. 111-113.

The relative importance and functional weight of local self-reliance and sustainability versus global connection and coordination is one of the most immediate and urgent problems of our time. In recent years globalization has been all the rage. It was synonymous with success and achievement. If you went global, you did something good and you were sure also to do well. Now some unintended but increasingly vexing side-effects of the globalization-trend have come to light. The opposite of globalization crops up with (...) increasing frequency: the importance of local self-reliance. This raises the question regarding an optimal ?glocal? strategy. This strategy is addressed here in the context of the theory of complex systems. (shrink)

The rift between science and religion needs to be assessed not merely on pragmatic grounds, on the basis of the effect of scientific versus religious beliefs on people's behavior, as John Caiazza's essay does, but also and above all in regard to the cogency of the respective beliefs in reference to what we can reasonably assume is the true face of reality. About such truth value, the conflict is not irremediable; there are elements of belief regarding the nature of reality (...) that are strikingly similar regardless of whether one arrived at them on the basis of faith in revealed knowledge or on the basis of knowledge acquired by reasoning from or in reference to experience. Two such items are selected here by way of example: belief that in certain states of mind and consciousness individuals can experience union with something larger or deeper than themselves, and belief that the universe we inhabit is the result of an original creative act. (shrink)

The developmental trend in many fields of contemporary science is toward integrated general theories. These trends are viewed as essential components of the nature of science rather than expressions of arbitrary preferences of scientists. The law-like factors which lead science toward reliance on general theories include empirical as well as rational components. A model is proposed which exhibits the balance of the relevant factors as calling for increasing use of theories the primitive terms of which are progressively more abstract and (...) general, though no less precise and empirically adequate. (shrink)

An exploration of the current revolution in scientific thought and the newest scientific findings in support of the Akashic field"--Provided by publisher.

Paradigm-shifts, termed scientific revolutions, occur periodically in the course of science's development The twentieth century witnessed a number of revolutions, first by Albert Einstein and then by Niels Bohr in physics, and subsequently in biology, cosmology and, through the pioneering work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, in the transdisciplinary area that includes human mind and consciousness. But scientific development did not come to a standstill: while the spirit of Einstein and Teilhard is as present as ever, their specific theories are (...) subject to the dynamics of theory development through periods of "normal" and "revolutionary" science. Today another revolution is about to occur, bringing science to the threshold of a more comprehensive and integrated account of the observed phenomena. The currently emerging transdisciplinary unified theory is consistent with the goals and vision of both Albert Einstein and Teilhard de Chardin. It penetrates deeper into the domains of reality than the 20th century's mainstream physical, biological and psychological theories did -below the level of the quanta that populate space-time, to the quantum vacuum, better termed cosmic plenum, that generates the quanta and interconnects them throughout space and time. In the twentieth century Einstein's general relativity gave us the relativistically interlinked universe, where all things are connected by signals propagating across the geometric structure of space-time, and Teilhard de Chardin laid the foundations of a unified theory where life and mind emerge consistently out of the physical world. In the twenty-first century transdisciplinary unified theory will extend these conceptions and give us the coherent universe, where all things are intrinsically connected by a fundamental information and virtual-energy field at a fundamental level of physical reality. /// A mudança de paradigmas, a que frequentemente damos o nome de revoluções científicas, ocorrem periodicamente no decurso da evolução científica. O século XX testemunhou uma importante série de revoluções científicas, primeiro por Albert Einstein e depois por Niels Bohr no âmbito da física, e subsequentemente em biologia, cosmo-logia e, graças ao trabalho pioneiro de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, na área transdisci-plinar que inclui os fenómenos da mente humana e da consciência. Mas o desenvolvimento científico não estagnou: enquanto que o espírito de Albert Einstein e de Teilhard de Chardin continua certamente presente, a verdade é que as suas teorias têm-se necessariamente submetido à dinâmica própria do desenvolvimento das teorias, o que acontece ao longo de períodos de ciência ditos "normais" quer "revolucionários". Segundo o autor do artigo, a humanidade está hoje a ponto de assistir a uma nova revolução, a qual colocará a ciência no limiar de produzir uma narrativa mais compreensiva e integrada dos fenómenos observados. Nesse sentido, a teoria transdisciplinar unificada é perfeitamente consistente com os objectivos e a visão tanto de Albert Einstein como de Teilhard de Chardin. Com efeito, esta teoria penetra mais fundo nos domínios da realidade do que as teorias mais comuns que o século XX produziu seja no domínio da física, da biologia ou da psicologia — passando do domínio dos quanta que povoam o espaço-tempo, para o quantum vacuum, mais precisamente designado plenum cósmico que gera os quanta e os interconecta através do espaço-tempo. No século XX, a teoria da relatividade generalizada de Einstein deu-nos um universo relativisticamente interconectado, no qual todas as coisas estão conectadas por sinais que se propagam através da estrutura geométrica do espaço-tempo. Por seu lado, Teilhard de Chardin lançou os fundamentos de uma teoria unificada em que os fenómenos da vida e da consciência emergem consistentemente do mundo físico. Agora, no século XXI, diz o autor do artigo, a teoria transdisciplinar unificada destina-se a alargar o âmbito destas concepções geniais de modo a dar-nos um universo coerente em que todas as coisas estão intrinsecamente conectadas por uma informação fundamental e um campo energético virtual ao nível mais profundo da realidade física. (shrink)

From the cutting edge of science and living spirituality: a guide to understanding our identity and purpose in the world • Outlines the new understanding of matter and mind coming to light at the cutting edge of physics and consciousness research • Explains how we can evolve consciously, become connected with each other, and flourish on this planet • Includes contributions from Maria Sagi, Kingsley L. Dennis, Emanuel Kuntzelman, Dawna Jones, Shamik Desai, Garry Jacobs, and John R. Audette For the (...) outdated mainstream paradigm the world is a giant mechanism functioning in accordance with known and knowable laws and regularities. The new paradigm emerging in science offers a different concept: The world is an interconnected, coherent whole, and it is informed by a cosmic intelligence. This is not a finite, mechanistic-material world. It is a consciousness-infused whole-system world. We are conscious beings who emerge and co-evolve as complex, cosmic-intelligence in-formed vibrations in the Akashic Field of the universe. Ervin Laszlo and his collaborators from the forefront of science, cosmology, and spirituality show how the re-discovery of who we are and why we are here integrates seamlessly with the wisdom traditions as well as with the new emerging worldview in the sciences, revealing a way forward for humanity on this planet. They explain how we have reached a point of critical incoherence and tell us that to save ourselves, our environment, and society, we need a critical mass of people to consciously evolve a new thinking. Offering a guidepost to orient this evolution, Laszlo examines the nature of consciousness in the universe, showing how our bodies and minds act as transmitters of consciousness from the intelligence of the cosmos and how understanding science’s new concept of the world enables us to re-discover our identity and our purpose in our world. With bold vision and forward thinking, Laszlo and his contributors Maria Sagi, Kingsley L. Dennis, Emanuel Kuntzelman, Dawna Jones, Shamik Desai, Garry Jacobs, and John R. Audette outline the new idea of the world and of ourselves in the world. They help us discover how we can overcome these divisive times and blossom into a new era of peace, coherence, connection, and global wellbeing. (shrink)

To overcome sociopsychologism and historical relativism, the growth of science is deduced from the combined effect of postulated invariant controls, in the form of enduring ideals of science, in their interaction with nature. The thus constituted "cybernetics-of-science" concept permits extrapolation from present to future states of science. The ideal scientific theory is the goal or target toward which the scientific process is oriented, by virtue of its invariant controls. The form of the ideal theory can thus be extrapolated, and some (...) speculative hypotheses advanced as to its contents, taking those of the recently emerged constructs of science as basis which best accord with the predicted form of the theory. (shrink)

First Published in 1971, Human Values and the Mind of Man examines how value questions have been treated in traditional theories of human nature. The book presents an interdisciplinary dialogue centred around the 'human mind'.

Originally published in 1991, The New Evolutionary Paradigm provides an innovative and cross disciplinary look at evolution. While Darwin's theory of evolution was originally restricted to the life sciences, in recent years the same principles have been applied successfully to historical, social and natural sciences. The papers included in The New Evolutionary Paradigm analyse the facts, observations, and accumulated data from the significance of a general evolution theory cannot be overemphasised; a new understanding of the cosmos and man's relationship to (...) it could lead to the systemization of the irreversible change that takes place in society and nature. This book will appeal to scientists, sociologists and those interested in transdisciplinary evolution theories. (shrink)