Description
Book SynopsisThis book contains highly original essays on the sweep of Western civilization from the middle ages to the present, including such topics as conscience and usury, "probabilism" in science and theology, systems of spiritual direction, as well as economic development.
Table of ContentsPreface On Life's Way: A Biographical Sketch On The Road to Modernity Acknowledgments Introduction to the Reprinted Edition Part I. Introduction Chapter 1: On the Origins of Modernity: The Author's Point of View Part II. Conscience Cultural Systems, and Directive Structures Chapter 2: Cultural Cues and Directive Systems Chapter 3: Self Images and Systems of Spiritual Direction Chapter 4: Conscience and the Makings of Early Modern Cultures: Beyond Max Weber Chapter 5: Civilizational Complexes and Intercivilizational Encounters Part III. Comparative Studies of Science in Historical and Civilizational Perspectives Chapter 6: On the Shoulders of Giants: The Comparative Historical Sociology of "Science" Chapter 7: Sources of "Probabilism" and "Anti-Probabilism" in 16th and 17th Century Science Chapter 8: The Early Modern Revolution in Science and Philosophy Chapter 9: Certitude and the Books of Scripture, Nature and Conscience Chapter 10: Sciences and Civilizations, "East" and "West": Joseph Needham and Max Weber Part IV. Civilizational Analysis and the Study of Existences, Experiences and Expressions Chapter 11: On the Structures of Consciousness and the Omnipresence of the Grotesque Chapter 12: Eros, Nomos, Polis: Shifting Balances of the Structures of Existence Chapter 13: Sociology and Civilizational Analysis: A Reply to Friends and Critics Epilogue: Priests, Prophets, Machines, Futures: 1202, 1848, 1984, 2001 Appendix— Our Ecological Crisis
