Science and The Esoteric Imagination

Course Title: Science and The Esoteric Imagination: From the Renaissance to the Post-modern

Course Code: SE 190 NE (online-English)

Course Dates: Commences April 4, 2011

Instructor: Orlando Fernandez

 

Objectives and course description:

The purpose of this course is to show how the esoteric tradition has been closely  involved with science from the Renaissance up to the  present day.

We live in a time when science is very important in our lives. We all are aware of the wonderful accomplishments of modern science and the amazing picture of the world that has been developing in the recent years. But despite its overwhelming presence in all we do, we are not always aware of how scientific ideas are related to other intellectual endeavours. Science is not a self-contained adventure, it is one aspect of the many sided nature of the human experience and it is deeply entangled with politics, culture, music, art, religion and of course with the esoteric tradition.

Thanks to significant academic efforts, recognition of the major role that the esoteric tradition has played in the evolution of science during the Renaissance has begun to become more widespread, as has its importance to the lives of many of the early scientists like Bacon, Descartes, Boyle, Newton and other major figures of the time. But the esoteric imagination has played an important role in classical and contemporary science as well,  something that many may find surprising. In this course, our aim is to demonstrate not only that the esoteric tradition has been active within orthodox, mainstream science but also that the esoteric can coexist in perfect harmony with  contemporary science and offer a vibrant and magical view of the world which contrasts with the mechanical, flat and dead image that is sometimes presented by some philosophers of science. We can even go further and argue that the amazing vision offered by the esoteric tradition is necessary for the science of the 21st century. In many ways, this course is a rediscovery of the magic in science. Science has not only been an incredible source of knowledge and technical improvement, for many people, some of them important scientists, science is a path to enlightenment and a tool for liberation.

To this end we will provide an overview of the relationship between science and the esoteric from the inception of the modern scientific method up to today. The course is designed as a chronological exploration of scientific ideas that have been inspired by the esoteric imagination, concentrating on the work of important scientists whose practices have been influenced by the esoteric either philosophically, or by experiential facts. We will not only acknowledge the historical events, but we will also deal with the scientific ideas themselves, and we will also review the use of science made by some important esotericists.

Texts:TBA

Prerequisites: None . This course is a prerequisite for several of our other courses. Exceptions will be made only in those cases where students can demonstrate a firm background knowledge of these concepts. If you believe this applies to you, please contact us prior to enrolment.

Languages: English only. Our English language requirements do apply to this course.

Delivery: Online only. A substantial amount of reading material will be made available to students through our online learning centre.

Students may also choose to audit this course.
Scholarships apply for this course.

Science and The Esoteric Imagination: From the Renaissance to the Post-modern

Week 1	Introduction exploring several esoteric themes that figure prominently in science: wholeness, unification, pythagoreanism and root matter among others. We will emphasize how an esoteric philosophy of science is not in contradiction with science, and will also review the important role that science played in the establishment of the academic field of Western Esotericism.
Week 2	The ideas and people that simultaneously gave rise to modern science and the modern Western esoteric tradition. Our study will include the relationship between alchemy and chemistry, Rosicrucianism and the formation of the new scientific spirit and the role of the Christian Kabbalah in the creation of Calculus.
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5	Classical science of the Enlightenment and the Romantic periods. The influence of the esoteric science of J. W. Goethe, the Naturphilosophie of Schelling and Hegel and its influence on important scientists; the idea of evolution, the mystical aspects of electricity and magnetism and the use of science by Eliphas Levi, H.P. Blavatsky and other Romantic esotericists. We will study the development of some important algebraic structures used today in fundamental physics and their relationship to panpsychism.
Week 6 Response Paper Due Oral presentation
Week 7
Week 8	Types of esotericism associated with contemporary science and with the `paradigm shift' that is claimed by the `New Science' movement. We include the contemporary analysis of the Infinite and its relationship with the Kabbalah, the esoteric influences in the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the fourth dimension and Relativity, and the main exponents of `New Science' at the end of the Twentieth century.
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11	-Research paper due -Oral presentation of Research Paper -Learning Journal due