Some New World

Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age

By:

Peter Harrison

Format:

Hardback

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Description

In his famous argument against miracles, David Hume gets to the heart of the modern problem of supernatural belief. 'We are apt', says Hume, 'to imagine ourselves transported into some new world; where the whole form of nature is disjointed, and every element performs its operation in a different manner, from what it does at present.' This encapsulates, observes Peter Harrison, the disjuncture between contemporary Western culture and medieval societies. In the Middle Ages, people saw the hand of God at work everywhere. Indeed, many suppose that 'belief in the supernatural' is likewise fundamental nowadays to religious commitment. But dichotomising between 'naturalism' and 'supernaturalism' is actually a relatively recent phenomenon, just as the notion of 'belief' emerged historically late. In this masterful contribution to intellectual history, the author overturns crucial misconceptions – 'myths' – about secular modernity, challenging common misunderstandings of the past even as he reinvigorates religious thinking in the present.

Author Biography:

Peter Harrison is a former Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion in the University of Oxford, and Emeritus Professor of the History of Science at the University of Queensland, where he was also an Australian Laureate fellow and Founding Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH). His many celebrated books include 'Religion' and the Religions in the English Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press, 1990), The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science (Cambridge University Press, 2007), The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2010), The Territories of Science and Religion (University of Chicago Press, 2015), and – co-edited with John Milbank – After Science and Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2022). In 2019, he delivered in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin the prestigious University of Oxford Bampton Lectures, which constitute the basis of the present work.

Release date Australia

April 8th, 2024

Author

Peter Harrison

Audience

General (US: Trade)

Illustrations

Worked examples or Exercises

Pages

488

Dimensions

161x236x40

ISBN-13

9781009477222

Product ID

38431582

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