Passion of the Western Mind

564 Pages·41.709 MB·English

by  Richard Tarnas

THE BRILLIANT BESTSELLER
"The mostlucid and
concise presentation
I haveread, ofthe
grand linesofwhat
everystudentshould
know aboutthehistory fU
ofWesternthought.
Thewritingiselegant
and carriesthereader
withthemomentum
ofa novel....Itis really
a noble performance."
i-t.
JosephCampbell
MIND
Understanding the Ideas That
Have Shaped Our World View
RICHARD TARNAS
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Uhris
ex
Kapor
Mitchell
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"THE BEST HISTORY OF WESTERN THOUGHT
HAVE READ MASTERFUL."
I
Robert A. McDermott
Chairman, Philosophy Department
Baruch College, City University of New York
"An extraordinary piece of scholarship. It not only places the
history of Western thought in perspective, but derives new in-
sights concerning the evolution of our thinking and the future of
the whole human enterprise. ... A truly important publishing
event."
John E. Mack
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Prince of Our
Disorder and The Alchemy of Survival
"This is the most creative and comprehensive treatment oi the
history of Western thought I know. . . . The book is a real master-
piece."
Stanislav Grof
author of Realms of the Human Unconscious
and Beyond the Brain
"I revelled in the intellectual pleasure and stimulation it gave me
from beginning to end. And when I got to the end, I wanted to
read it all over again. ... I have added it to a small set oi books—
about ten, and including my dictionary, the Bible, etc.—which sit
in my 'permanent collection' on my desk. ... A perfect book,
without flaw. No accolade would be excessive."
Kenneth Ring
Professor of Psychology, University of Connecticut
Author of The Omega Project
"AN INTELLECTUAL TOUR DE FORCE
that presents a brilliant overview of the development ofthe West-
ern world view in accessible form. The summary of the post-
modern mind alone is worth the price of the book."
Stanley Krippner
Professor of Psychology
California Institute of Integral Studies
"A work of high adventure and intellectual daring."
Gary Lachman
Bodhi Tree Review
"The Passion of the Western Mind is a masterful chronicle of the
roots and major flowerings of the Western search for understand-
ing, from the pre-Socratic Greeks to the present day. It is also a
powerful, multi-layered synthesis that precisely integrates the
philosophic, spiritual, and scientific dimensions of that search,
A
and prophesies its coming transformation. ... great work ofart,
an original illumination."
Harrison Sheppard
The Hellenic Journal
"[Tarnas] has succeeded in weighing thousands of facts and
welding them together into a breathtaking intellectual synthesis,
presented in accomplished prose."
Georg Feuerstein, Spectrum Review
"A sweeping intellectual overview of the emergence and evolu-
tion ofhuman thought from the earliest times down to the present
day. With this volume Richard Tarnas goes a long way toward
. . .
establishing himself as a modern day Encyclopaedist."
The New England Review of Books
"SUCCEEDS SPECTACULARLY
. . .
AN EXCITING READ, A PAGE^BURNER."
Robert Craft
The Quest
"Exceptionally well-organized extremely well-written.
. . . . . .
Above all, it is replete with insights that 'go off' like wonderful
little firecrackers throughout the text. ... Its radically interdisci-
plinary nature explicitly calls into question the division of knowl-
edge into 'fields,' which is, to be sure, a large part of the point o(
the tale and its significance: not trees, but the whole jungle in
compelling articulation. [The book includes] the most concise
. . .
and compelling account of early Christian history that I have ever
read."
David L. Miller
Professor of Religion, Syracuse University
author of The New Polytheism
"Richard Tarnas possesses a fascinating lucidity, and in The Pas-
sion of the Western Mind moves with ease among complex matters
without sacrificing a bit of their complexity."
Jeffrey Hart
National Review
"An important new interpretation for the comprehension of his-
tory, culture, and humanity itself. . . . Uncompromising clarity,
breadth, and simplicity."
Kevan Prosnick
The Inner Door
"Truly on the cutting edge of thinking."
Harvard Center for Psychological Studies
in the Nuclear Age
"AN INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURE,
this challenging synthesis throws a sharp light on ideas central to
the modern outlook."
Publishers Weekly
''Brilliantly conveys the drama ofconflicting questions about mind
and matter, faith and reason, cosmology and science, freedom and
determinism. An essential guidebook to the permanent wis-
. . .
dom of past philosophers."
Joseph F. Keppler
The Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer
"No other such overview provides, in equal compass, as clear and
cogent a survey. Its scholarship is impeccable."
Huston Smith, Professor of Religious Studies
University of California, Berkeley, author of
The World's Religions and Beyond the Postmodern Mind
"Richard Tarnas speaks to our condition as humans alive at the
end of the 20th century. Tarnas has accumulated a staggering
. . .
amount of data, yet he spares us the confusion this knowledge
could create in our minds. How does he manage this? He tells us
not primarily about the things his mind has grasped, but rather
about the things that have grasped his mind. Thus, his account
grasps the reader's mind, too."
David Steindl-Rast
coauthor of Belonging to the Universe
"A GREAT BOOK
. . .
A
passionate book about history, the ecstasy of thought, and
thought's relationship to the mystery of lite. Its brilliance, cratts
manship, and courageousness should not be missed."
Walter R. Christie
Chrysalis
"It is difficult to overpraise what Tarnas has accomplished. . . .
He has produced a much needed contemporary 'guide for the per-
plexed,' a comprehensive yet readily accessible map of the poten-
tially bewildering territory of Western intellectual history."
Sean M. Kelly
The San Francisco ]ung Institute Library ]ournal
44A compelling narrative history oi the evolving Western world
—
view—the Western mind and spirit as seen through the pivotal
interaction between philosophy, religion, and science. [Writ-
. . .
ten] with the insight of a psychologist and the artistry of a
novelist."
Keith Thompson
Utne Reader
"Tarnas is one oi those rare but valuable people who match a
deep and lasting vision with impeccable scholarship, balance, and
the sheer effort required to create something of world-changing
quality."
Renn Butler
Common Ground
"As close to perfect as any human project has a right to be."
Deane Juhan
Author ofJob's Body

Th,
Passion
of the
Western
Mind
Understanding the Ideas
That Have Shaped Our World View
Richard Tarnas
Ballantine Books • New York
To Heather
Copyright © 1991 by Richard Tarnas
All rights reserved under International and Pan-AmericanCopy-
right Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechan-
ical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher. Published in the United States by Ballantine
Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and si-
multaneously in Canada by Random House ofCanada Limited,
Toronto.
This edition published by arrangement with Harmony Books, a
division ofCrown Publishers, Inc., New York.
Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 92-90050
ISBN: 0-345-36809-6
Cover design by James R. Harris
Cover painting: Thomas Cole. The Architect's Dream (1840), oil
on canvas, 53 X 84'/i6 inches. The Toledo
Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. Purchased with
funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest
in Memory of Her Father, Maurice A. Scott.
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
First Ballantine Books Edition: April 1993
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