New Renaissance

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* Book: A New Renaissance: transforming science, spirit and society. David Lorimer and Oliver Robinson. Floris Books (Scientific and Medical Network), 2010

URL = http://www.scimednet.org/assets/public/images/events/ContentsNewRenaissance.pdf

Summary

1. From the publishers:

"A New Renaissance diagnoses an urgent need for change and renewal in a period of crisis for philosophy, science and society. The Florentine Renaissance, some six hundred years ago, took a huge leap forward into realism, rationality and self-awareness. It was born out of the waning authority of medieval institutions and beliefs.

We stand now at a similar junction in history. It is apparent to many that reductionist science with its materialist values - the worldview that has driven modern culture for the last two centuries - is losing credibility. Its objectives of growth and acquisition, and its guiding principles asserting that there is no intrinsic meaning to life or purpose in the cosmos are now widely seen as creating an unsustainable world.

The essays gathered in A New Renaissance are a cultural response to the failings of the materialist worldview. Contributions in the first part diagnose the sources of the crisis in the current worldview. The second section searches for a new understanding of consciousness and mind, based on findings in new non-materialist philosophy. The third section looks to a renewal of spirituality beyond religion, aiming to recapture the personal depth and connection to the cosmos that materialism denies or ignores. The fourth section examines possible reforms in politics, economics and education to help bring forth a society that can sustain the flourishing of human beings in the globally interconnected world of the twenty-first century." (http://www.scimednet.org/assets/public/pdf-leaflets/NewRenaissancedialoguebooklaunch.pdf)


2. Tony Judge:

"At the time of writing, the New Renaissance is articulated through a book of that title edited by David Lorimer and Oliver Robinson (A New Renaissance: transforming science, spirit and society, 2010). It was launched to the media in London (6th November 2010) at a conference by the Scientific and Medical Network, whose speakers including many of the contributors to the book. This helps to make the point that the New Renaissance is neither the event launching the book, nor the contributions, nor the themes they evoke. Or is it necessarily all those, and more?

The book's contributors stress:

... an urgent need for change and renewal in a period of crisis for philosophy, science and society. The Florentine Renaissance, some six hundred years ago, took a huge leap forward into realism, rationality and self-awareness. It was born out of the waning authority of medieval institutions and beliefs. We stand now at a similar junction in history. It is apparent to many that reductionist science with its materialist values - the worldview that has driven modern culture for the last two centuries - is losing credibility.... The essays gathered in A New Renaissance are a cultural response to the failings of the materialist worldview.

The contributions are clustered into four parts:

  • diagnosis of the sources of the crisis in the current worldview.
  • the search for a new understanding of consciousness and mind, based on findings in new non-materialist philosophy.
  • renewal of spirituality beyond religion, aiming to recapture the personal depth and connection to the cosmos that materialism denies or ignores.
  • possible reforms in politics, economics and education to help bring forth a society that can sustain the flourishing of human beings in the globally interconnected world of the twenty-first century.


The distinguished contributors have all written extensively in other works on the themes which variously address the question of what is the New Renaissance. Such themes include, or touch upon, according to the preoccupation of each:

change of paradigm, new thinking, transdisciplinarity, transcending polarity. collective intelligence and wisdom, personal transformation -- rebirth, planetary consciousness, new conscience, emergence of new spiritual leadership, new harmony." (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs10s/rebirth.php)


Contents

"Part 1: Worldviews in Transition

1. The World’s Health Problem: An Integral Diagnosis Ervin Laszlo

2. Celebrating Crisis: Towards a Culture of Cooperation Elisabet Sahtouris

3.The Greater Copernican Revolution and the Crisis of the Modern World View Richard Tarnas

4. Recapturing the Whole: Brain Hemispheres and the Renewal of Culture Iain McGilchrist

5. Reinventing the Human Species: An Evolutionary Crossroads Frank Parkinson

6. Restoring Harmony and Connection: Inner and Outer HRH Prince of Wales

7. Modernity and the Transmodern Shift Oliver Robinson


Part 2: Consciousness and Mind in Science and Medicine

8. Mind and Neurons: Consciousness and Brain in the Twenty-First Century Larry Dossey

9. New Science, New Earth Chris Clarke

10. The Credit Crunch for Materialism and the Possible Renewal of Science Rupert Sheldrake

11. Parapsychology and the New Renaissance David Luke

12. Any Dream Won’t Do: Changing our Minds about Consciousness Paul Devereux

13. Thinking about Thought F. David Peat


Part 3: Spirituality and New Understandings of the Sacred

14. Who are We and Why are We Here? Anne Baring

15. The Spiritual Imperative: Elegant Simplicity is the Way to Discover Spirituality Satish Kumar

16. Beyond the Material: The New Renaissance and Agnostic Spirituality Max Payne

17. From Sacred Ecology to Sacred Health Henryk Skolimowski

18. A Pathway Towards the One True Religion and Spirituality James D’Angelo

19. Returning to Natural Mind Peter Russell


Part 4: Global and Local Transformation: Governance, Economics and Education

20. Towards a Politics for the Twenty-First Century: Psyche, Polis, Cosmos Jean Hardy

21. Towards a New Renaissance in Good Governance Chris Wright

22. Transforming the Economy Peter Bowman

23. Music and the Arts in a Possible Future Clement Jewitt

24. The Virtues of Uncertainty: A Character Curriculum for the Learning Age Guy Claxton

25. Why Schooling is a Major Contributor to the Crisis: and what can be done about it Ian Cunningham