As you can see from Texas A&M’s anthropology aggregating site (which is one of my favorite places on the net), at least a dozen stories have appeared in the past week about new archaeological finds near Stonehenge. Using ground penetrating radar and other non-invasive technology, archaeologists have discovered another henge — which was wooden, approximately [...]
Entries Tagged as 'materialism'
Ancestor Worship: The Epicurean Lucretius
July 10th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Atheism and Religion, Cognition and Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Evolution and Selection, History of Religions, Philosophy of Religion
While doing some background research on the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), I discovered that he had been much influenced by Lucretius, who lived in the first century BCE (around the time of Julius Caesar) and published a six-volume treatise titled On the Nature of Things. As if writing philosophy in narrative form were [...]
Tags:ancestor worship·atomic theory·Charles Darwin·Christianity·classics·cultural evolution·David Hume·David Sedley·Epicurean·Epicurus·evolution·Greco-Roman·Herbert Spencer·Julius Caesar·Lucretius·materialism·naturalism·Nietzsche·On the Nature of Things·Plato·Platonic philosophy·prehistory·Scottish Enlightenment·skepticism·survival of the fittest·Thomas Hobbes
Hitchens Soul-Hammers Prince Charles
June 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism and Religion, Daily Devolutions, Emotions and Religion, Magic and Religion, Power and Religion, Ritual and Religion
Whether or not you like Christopher Hitchens, one thing is certain: he can turn an incisive phrase. At his best, Hitchens writes with an acerbic aplomb that can be charming; at his worst, he is downright nasty.
With the latter Hitchens in mind, I have not yet been able to bring myself to read his jeremiad, [...]
Tags:atheism·caliphate·Christopher Hitchens·consumerism·crystals·fundamentalists·Galileo·God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything·Islamic empire·jihad·Khalil Gibran·Laurens van der Post·materialism·Muslim·mysticism·mystics·New Age·Prince Charles·radical Islam·religion·science·sharia·soul·universal soul
Return of the Sacred — Ringing Daniel Bell
June 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism and Religion, Axial Age Religions, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Economy and Religion, Globalization and Religion, History of Religions, Morality and Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Power and Religion
On rare occasion, one encounters a thinker and writer of extraordinary talent; the author, intellectual, and sociologist Daniel Bell is one such person. Bell is perhaps most famous for his 1976 book, Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. It was with great interest, therefore, that I read his 1977 Hobhouse Memorial Lecture, “The Return of the Sacred? [...]
Tags:Christianity·consumption·Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism·Daniel Bell·dualism·Emile Durkheim·fundamentalism·Harvard·high culture·human nature·human universals·Immanuel Wallerstein·intellectuals·intelligentsia·Janus·late capitalism·materialism·modernity·morality·mythical past·New York City elites·nostalgia·science·sociologist·sociology·The Return of the Sacred? The Argument on the Future of Religion·the sacred·Western culture·Whore of Babylon·world system
The Religious Yearning for Material Affirmation
April 13th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, History of Religions
One of the great ironies — and paradoxes — of history is that religionists claim on the one hand that spiritual belief is ineffable, non-material, and not subject to empirical verification, yet on the other hand they are always seeking — sometimes desperately — for material confirmation of their beliefs. This contradictory thinking supposes that [...]
Tags:materialism·Nina Burleigh·relics·skepticism·William Bouwsma