Regaining to Know Aright: 'Natural' Knowledge for a Secular World - Softcover

Wilkinson, Geoffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1916062210 ISBN 13: 9781916062214

Publisher: Geoffrey M. Wilkinson, 2024

Synopsis

We want to believe that the world is intelligible - that there is some reason why it is as it is, or exists at all. But the belief is unsustainable now we know that ultimately the world is unintelligible, made of fundamental particles that just burst into being 13.8 billion years ago and behave in ways that baffle us. How do we reconcile ourselves to the reality that in the beginning was no design, no purpose, reason or reasonableness? This essay proposes that we look to four historically and culturally diverse figures who did not expect or demand intelligibility in all things: the Roman poet Lucretius, the Danish physicist Niels Bohr, the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, and the Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō. For in their writings can be found key elements of the 'natural' knowledge we need for a more honest, secular accommodation with the world. The question of what difference such knowledge could or should make to our lives is left open, or rather, is left to the reader to answer. 

About this title

About the Author

Geoffrey Wilkinson is an independent essayist and sometime translator of Japanese poetry, with no academic or other affiliations. He lives in Wales. His two most recent books, both published in 2024, are 'Regaining to Know Aright: "Natural" Knowledge for a Secular World' (ISBN 9781916062214) and 'Zen and the Art of Piracy' (ISBN 9781916062221).

Edition details

• Publisher: Geoffrey M. Wilkinson
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1916062210
• ISBN 13: 9781916062214
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 150