Description
Temenos Academy Papers 41
48 pages
ISBN 978 1 9164818 0 0 paper
These two lectures arose from the question: How has modern culture become
alienated from Nature? The present ecological and environmental crisis calls not
only for urgent action, but also for a new understanding of our place in the natural
order. We live in an age in which there is no longer any sense of a cosmic order in
which human society plays a vital part. It therefore seemed it would be worthwhile to
oVer a lecture showing how this situation came about. It was evident that the roots
of modernity lay in the theological shift in understanding that took place in the
fourteenth century, in which the hierarchical vision of the universe was overthrown
through the rise of nominalism and voluntarism. This change in the conception of the
created order could not be adequately covered in a single lecture, and so a second one
was called for after the first was given. This book presents slightly revised versions of
those two lectures, which it is hoped will contribute to a clearer understanding of how
the modern world became alienated from Nature, and how we may begin to respond
positively to the challenges this situation presents us with.