Lost Knowledge of the Imagination

Lost Knowledge of the Imagination
Author: Gary Lachman
Publisher: Floris Books
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2017-10-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1782504575

The ability to imagine is at the heart of what makes us human. Through our imagination we experience more fully the world both around us and within us. Imagination plays a key role in creativity and innovation. Until the seventeenth century, the human imagination was celebrated. Since then, with the emergence of science as the dominant worldview, imagination has been marginalised -- depicted as a way of escaping reality, rather than knowing it more profoundly -- and its significance to our humanity has been downplayed. Yet as we move further into the strange new dimensions of the twenty-first century, the need to regain this lost knowledge seems more necessary than ever before. This insightful and inspiring book argues that, for the sake of our future in the world, we must reclaim the ability to imagine and redress the balance of influence between imagination and science. Through the work of Owen Barfield, Goethe, Henry Corbin, Kathleen Raine, and others, and ranging from the teachings of ancient mystics to the latest developments in neuroscience, The Lost Knowledge of the Imagination draws us back to a philosophy and tradition that restores imagination to its rightful place, essential to our knowing reality to the full, and to our very humanity itself.

Knowledge Through Imagination

Knowledge Through Imagination
Author: Amy Kind
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2016
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 019871680X

Imagination is celebrated as our vehicle for escape from the mundane here and now. It transports us to distant lands of magic and make-believe. It provides us with diversions during boring meetings or long bus rides. It enables creation of new things that the world has never seen. Yet the focus on imagination as a means of escape from the real world minimizes the fact that imagination seems also to furnish us with knowledge about it. Imagination seems an essential component in our endeavor to learn about the world in which we live--whether we're planning for the future, aiming to understand other people, or figuring out whether two puzzle pieces fit together. But how can the same mental power that allows us to escape the world as it currently is also inform us about the world as it currently is? The ten original essays in Knowledge Through Imagination, along with a substantial introduction by the editors, grapple with this neglected question; in doing so, they present a diverse array of positions ranging from cautious optimism to deep-seated pessimism. Many of the essays proceed by considering specific domains of inquiry where imagination is often employed--from the navigation of our immediate environment, to the prediction of our own and other peoples' behavior, to the investigation of ethical truth. Other essays assess the prospects for knowledge through imagination from a more general perspective, looking at issues of cognitive architecture and basic rationality. Blending perspectives from philosophy of mind, cognitive science, epistemology, aesthetics, and ethics, Knowledge Through Imagination sheds new light on the epistemic role of imagination.

Shores of Knowledge: New World Discoveries and the Scientific Imagination

Shores of Knowledge: New World Discoveries and the Scientific Imagination
Author: Joyce Appleby
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2013-10-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393239519

Recounts the triumphs and mishaps of Columbus and other explorers, following the naturalists--both famous and obscure--whose investigations of the world's fauna and flora fueled the rise of science and technology that propelled Western Europe towards modernity.

Kitchen Literacy

Kitchen Literacy
Author: Ann Vileisis
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2008-02
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1597263737

Ask children where food comes from, and they’ll probably answer: “the supermarket.” Ask most adults, and their replies may not be much different. Where our foods are raised and what happens to them between farm and supermarket shelf have become mysteries. How did we become so disconnected from the sources of our breads, beef, cheeses, cereal, apples, and countless other foods that nourish us every day? Ann Vileisis’s answer is a sensory-rich journey through the history of making dinner. Kitchen Literacy takes us from an eighteenth-century garden to today’s sleek supermarket aisles, and eventually to farmer’s markets that are now enjoying a resurgence. Vileisis chronicles profound changes in how American cooks have considered their foods over two centuries and delivers a powerful statement: what we don’t know could hurt us. As the distance between farm and table grew, we went from knowing particular places and specific stories behind our foods’ origins to instead relying on advertisers’ claims. The woman who raised, plucked, and cooked her own chicken knew its entire life history while today most of us have no idea whether hormones were fed to our poultry. Industrialized eating is undeniably convenient, but it has also created health and environmental problems, including food-borne pathogens, toxic pesticides, and pollution from factory farms. Though the hidden costs of modern meals can be high, Vileisis shows that greater understanding can lead consumers to healthier and more sustainable choices. Revealing how knowledge of our food has been lost and how it might now be regained, Kitchen Literacy promises to make us think differently about what we eat.

Athanasius Kircher

Athanasius Kircher
Author: Joscelyn Godwin
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Total Pages: 96
Release: 1979-01-01
Genre: Germany
ISBN: 9780500810224

Athanasius Kircher (1602 - 80) stand out as one of the last all-encompassing minds. For this true Renaissance man, the whole world was a glorious appearance of God waiting to be explored. Kircher was a Jesuit and an archeologist, a phenomenal linguist and an avid collector of scientific instruments. He deciphered archaic languages, experimented with alchemy and music therapy, optics and magnetism. Egyptian mystery wisdom, Greek, Cabbalistic and Christian philosophy met on common ground in his work. Kircher's sumptuous volumes were revered throughout Europe, and his gigantic oeuvre is represented here through striking engravings - most of them reprinted for the first time - together with annotations and an introduction to Kircher's life and work.

A Secret History of Consciousness

A Secret History of Consciousness
Author: Gary Lachman
Publisher: SteinerBooks
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2003-07
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1584204931

For the last four centuries, science has tried to account for everything in terms of atoms and molecules and the physical laws they adhere to. Recently, this effort was extended to try to include the inner world of human beings. Gary Lachman argues that this view of consciousness is misguided and unfounded. He points to another approach to the study and exploration of consciousness that erupted into public awareness in the late 1800s. In this "secret history of consciousness," consciousness is seen not as a result of neurons and molecules, but as responsible for them; meaning is not imported from the outer world, but rather creates it. In this view, consciousness is a living, evolving presence whose development can be traced through different historical periods, and which evolves along a path to a broader, more expansive state. What that consciousness may be like and how it may be achieved is a major concern of this book. Lachman concentrates on the period since the late 1800s, when Madame Blavatsky first brought the secret history out into the open. As this history unfolds, we encounter the ideas of many modern thinkers, from esotericists like P. D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, and Colin Wilson to more mainstream philosophers like Henri Bergson, William James, Owen Barfield and the psychologist Andreas Mavromatis. Two little known but important thinkers play a major role in his synthesis --Jurij Moskvitin, who showed how our consciousness relates to the mechanisms of perception and to the external world, and Jean Gebser, who presented perhaps the most impressive case for the evolution of consciousness. An important contribution to the study of consciousness ... a must-read.

Lost Knowledge

Lost Knowledge
Author: David W. DeLong
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2004-09-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199883645

Executives today recognize that their firms face a wave of retirements over the next decade as the baby boomers hit retirement age. At the other end of the talent pipeline, the younger workforce is developing a different set of values and expectations, which creates new recruiting and employee retention issues. The evolution from an older, traditional, highly-experienced workforce to a younger, more mobile, employee base poses significant challenges, particularly when considered in the context of the long-term orientation towards downsizing and cost cutting. This is a solution-oriented book to address one of the most pressing management problems of the coming years: How do organizations transfer the critical expertise and experience of their employees before that knowledge walks out the door? It begins by outlining the broad issues and providing tools for developing a knowledge-retention strategy and function. It then goes on to outline best practices for retaining knowledge, including knowledge transfer practices, using technology to enable knowledge retention, retaining older workers and retirees, and outsourcing lost capabilities.

Lost Knowledge

Lost Knowledge
Author: Benjamin B. Olshin
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9004352724

Lost Knowledge: The Concept of Vanished Technologies and Other Human Histories examines the idea of lost knowledge, reaching back to a period between myth and history. It investigates a peculiar idea found in a number of early texts: that there were civilizations with knowledge of sophisticated technologies, and that this knowledge was obscured or destroyed over time along with the civilization that had created it. This book presents critical studies of a series of early Chinese, South Asian, and other texts that look at the idea of specific “lost” technologies, such as mechanical flight and the transmission of images. There is also an examination of why concepts of a vanished “golden age” were prevalent in so many cultures. Offering an engaging and investigative look at the propagation of history and myth in technology and culture, this book is sure to interest historians and readers from many backgrounds.

That Wondrous Pattern

That Wondrous Pattern
Author: Kathleen Raine
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2017-04-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1619029871

“There is no exaggeration in pointing out that these essays are addressed to the soul of the reader. They are not academic exercises in erudition as a contribution to ‘Eng. Lit.’” —from the introduction by Brian Keeble Kathleen Raine was one of the greatest British poets of the last century. Born to a deeply literary and spiritual household, she went on to study at Cambridge, where she met Jacob Bronowski, William Empson, and Malcolm Lowry. A dedicated neoPlatonist, she studied and presented the works of Thomas Taylor and wrote seminal books on William Blake. With Keith Critchlow, Brian Keeble, and Philip Sherrard, she founded, in 1981, the Temenos Academy of Integral Studies, its journal Temenos, and, later, the Temenos Academy Review. HRH The Prince of Wales became the patron of the academy in 1997. For our new selection, That Wondrous Pattern, Raine offers sixteen essays that range from “The Inner Journey of the Poet” and “What Is Man?” to essays on Blake, Wordsworth, Hopkins, Yeats, Eliot, and several others. The centerpiece, “What Is the Use of Poetry?”, is a rigorous defense of the great art. Editor Brian Keeble himself contributes a fascinating introduction to Raine’s work, and Wendell Berry, a colleague and friend of hers, offers a preface. All who spend time in the presence of this wonderful writer will leave newly entranced with the art and use of the beautiful, convinced that “it is only in moments when we transcend ourselves that we can know anything of value.

Delphi Complete Works of Charles Williams (Illustrated)

Delphi Complete Works of Charles Williams (Illustrated)
Author: Charles Williams
Publisher: Delphi Classics
Total Pages: 4972
Release: 2023-08-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1801701229

Charles Williams was a British poet, novelist, playwright, theologian and literary critic, chiefly remembered today for his innovative fantasy novels. Along with Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, Williams was a member of the Inklings, a literary discussion group based in Oxford University, who were enthusiasts that praised the value of narrative in fiction and encouraged the writing of fantasy. Williams produced notable works in all literary formats, including compelling dramas, erudite non-fiction and sublime poetry. This eBook presents Williams’ complete fictional works, with numerous illustrations, many rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Williams’ life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * All the novels, with individual contents tables * The rare unfinished novel, ‘The Noises That Weren’t There’, digitised here for the first time * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * The rare short story ‘Et in Sempiternum Pereant’ * The complete poems and plays for the first time in publishing history * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Includes a wide selection of Williams’ non-fiction– spend hours exploring the author’s varied works * Ordering of texts into chronological order and genres CONTENTS: The Novels War in Heaven (1930) Many Dimensions (1931) The Place of the Lion (1931) The Greater Trumps (1932) Shadows of Ecstasy (1933) Descent into Hell (1937) All Hallows’ Eve (1945) The Noises That Weren’t There (1970) The Short Story Et in Sempiternum Pereant (1935) The Plays The Chapel of the Thorn (1912) The Masque of the Manuscript (1927) The Masque of Perusal (1929) The Masque of the Termination of Copyright (1930) A Myth of Shakespeare (1930) Three Plays (1929) Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury (1936) Seed of Adam (1937) Judgement at Chelmsford (1939) The Death of Good Fortune (1939) The House by the Stable (1939) Terror of Light (1940) Grab and Grace (1941) The Three Temptations (1942) House of the Octopus (1945) The Poetry Collections The Silver Stair (1912) Poems of Conformity (1917) Divorce (1920) Windows of Night (1924) Heroes and Kings (1930) Taliessin through Logres (1938) The Region of the Summer Stars (1944) Uncollected Poems The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Non-Fiction Victorian Narrative Verse (1927) The English Poetic Mind (1932) Bacon (1933) Reason and Beauty in the Poetic Mind (1933) James I (1934) Rochester (1935) Queen Elizabeth (1936) Henry VII (1937) He Came Down from Heaven (1938) The Descent of the Dove (1939) Witchcraft (1941) The Figure of Beatrice (1943) The Figure of Arthur (1948)