Search results for ""Author Mary-Jane Rubenstein""

Book SynopsisAn exciting look at contemporary scientific cosmologies and their relationship to philosophy and religion.Trade ReviewRubenstein grounds the current debate on the plurality of universes on solid scholarship, skillfully exploring its historical and philosophical roots. -- Marcelo Gleiser, Dartmouth College This is a work that performs the 'many-oneness' of the multiverse, whose history and potentiality it maps. As she traces the startling philosophical depths, mystical ancestry, and scientific shocks of this cosmic boundlessness, Rubenstein's brilliance sparkles like its innumerable stars. -- Catherine Keller, author of Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming Some physicists suggest that our cosmos has been caught in an endless loop, repeatedly cycling between big bangs since time immemorial. In Worlds Without End, Mary-Jane Rubenstein provides a remarkable tour of how such ideas-and competing ideas about whether our universe is embedded within some larger multiverse-have likewise been cycling throughout Western thought for millennia. This deeply learned excavation is a rare accomplishment: a page-turner that asks large questions about science, philosophy, and religion. Fascinating. -- David Kaiser, author of How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival We are living through a golden age of cosmology, when observations reveal a universe 13.8 billion years big and new theories and new evidence vie with one another almost on a daily basis. Rubenstein is an expert guide to this dramatic scene. Uncovering humorous comparisons with the past, she shows that our golden age is tarnished in only a few ways. We cannot tell which of the many-worlds hypotheses is the right one, whether they exist under an integrated set of laws, and we may never be able to so. Yet the quest continues and produces many profound insights. Rubenstein shows the way scientific worldviews grow from the kind of questions we ask, how metaphysics and physics are mutually entangled, and how the many worlds of her title emerge, again and again over two thousand years, often in spite of their authors' intentions and taste. A witty and mature view of views. -- Charles Jencks , author of The Garden of Cosmic Speculation A must read for anyone who is interested in the evolution of human thought about the cosmos. The reader is led through the history of philosophical, religious and scientific ideas and arguments for the existence of many worlds then left to contemplate their own ending to the cosmic story. A beautiful and authoritative description of the struggles and developments of competing ideas about nature for the past three millenia -- Laura Mersini-Houghton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Rubenstein's witty, thought-provoking history of philosophy and physics leaves one in awe of just how close Thomas Aquinas and American physicist Steven Weinberg are in spirit as they seek ultimate answers. Publishers Weekly Wonderful... A fun, mind-stretching read, clear and enlightening. San Francisco Book Review A fascinating and very well-written book... Green Spirit Magazine An excellent starting point for those wishing to go even deeper down the throat of the wormhole. Recommended. CHOICE If one seeks a scholarly account of the main ideas rather than of the detailed science, then Worlds Without End is excellent. Physics TodayTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: How to Avoid the G-Word 1. A Single, Complete Whole 2. Ancient Openings of Multiplicity 3. Navigating the Infinite 4. Measuring the Immeasurable 5. Bangs, Bubbles, and Branes: Atomists Versus Stoics, Take Two 6. Ascending to the Ultimate Multiverse Unendings: On the Entanglement of Science and Religion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA revealing look at the parallel mythologies behind the colonization of Earth and spaceand a bold vision for a more equitable, responsible future both on and beyond our planet. As environmental, political, and public health crises multiply on Earth, we are also at the dawn of a new space race in which governments team up with celebrity billionaires to exploit the cosmos for human gain. The best-known of these pioneers are selling different visions of the future: while Elon Musk and SpaceX seek to establish a human presence on Mars, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin work toward moving millions of earthlings into rotating near-Earth habitats. Despite these distinctions, these two billionaires share a core utopian project: the salvation of humanity through the exploitation of space. In Astrotopia, philosopher of science and religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein pulls back the curtain on the not-so-new myths these space barons are peddling, like growth without limit, energy without guilt, and salTrade Review"A gung-ho approach to speed would violate the considerations of space ecology promoted by Rubenstein in Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. Rubenstein, while expertly dismantling some overblown claims of companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, proposes a gentler mode of space exploration that refuses to rehearse the violent history of colonialism on earth. In a way her vision recalls Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock’s Prime Directive: to avoid interference with other life forms. The original Star Trek series began in 1966, only months after the death of Sergei Korolev. Perhaps it still has something to teach us." -- Steven Poole * Wall Street Journal *"The vision is to mine the lunar surface for rocket fuel that can then propel us all the way to Mars—and beyond, as humanity takes its self-appointed place in the stars. Rubenstein told me that vision makes her want to throw up. . . . Rubenstein argues that today’s corporate space race—helmed by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and others who propose to 'save' humanity from a dying planet—is actually rehashing old Christian themes that go all the way back to the fifteenth century, when European Christians colonized the Americas. Remember how Donald Trump described the Artemis mission and eventual settlement of the moon and Mars? He called it 'America’s manifest destiny in the stars.' But as Rubenstein points out, not everyone thinks it’s the moon’s destiny to be strip-mined, or Mars’s destiny to be settled by human colonists. In fact, some believe these celestial bodies should have fundamental rights of their own." -- Sigal Samuel * Vox *"That techno-utopian agenda, which too frequently anchors public discussion of extraterrestrial exploration, was critiqued last year in Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race, by Mary-Jane Rubenstein, professor of religion and science at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She notes the quasi-religious fervor of ‘astrosavior’ Musk and his devotees: the planet is doomed, cries its richest man, who promises salvation elsewhere for the faithful. His is not the only voice that matters. What about the Navajo Nation, who regard other worlds as sacred? We should not be sacrificing a space Greta to social media trolls to argue the toss; we need governments brave enough to make new rules in space that respect and benefit us all.” * Financial Times *"Rubenstein succeeds in highlighting both the debate over whether future space exploration and exploitation should be led by government or entrepreneurial entities and the manner in which neoliberal, private-sector emphases have come to dominate the thinking of a particular segment of the pro-space community. Her criticisms of this phenomenon—part of a growing body of literature in environmental studies, Afrofuturism, and anticolonialism investigations—are on point.” -- Roger D. Launius * Science *“In the cold war, space exploration’s wonders served a race between political systems. Today, argues religion and science scholar Rubenstein, they are subject to commercial rivalry, notably between billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who are littering space and advocating it as a refuge from Earth’s destruction. She argues that we must eschew such myopic, colonialist ‘astrotopia,’ and listen instead to a sort of ‘pantheistic mysticism’—valuing and learning from the cosmic environment—scorned by past imperialists.” -- Andrew Robinson * Nature *"If you find this state of affairs depressing—if your fascination with the Moon, Mars and other wonders of our solar system is increasingly tempered by concerns that a small but powerful group of people seems hell-bent on mucking them up—then you should run, not walk, to your nearest bookseller for a copy of Astrotopia. . . . It offers a concise but stinging critique of the current 'New Space' era, giving succour to space fans everywhere who are, in Rubenstein’s words, 'sick over the decimation of this planet and horrified that this planet isn’t enough for the decimators.' . . . When I review a book, I like to mark important passages and pithy phrases with sticky notes. By the time I finished Astrotopia, my copy had more paper flags than a Jubilee street party. I hope this review illustrates why this was so, and why Rubenstein’s arguments deserve the widest possible hearing among people who dream of exploring space without exploiting it." -- Margaret Harris * Physics World *“A version of spaceflight's story that isn't told often enough.” -- Meghan Bartels, News Reporter * Scientific American, "55 Books Scientific American Recommends in 2023" *"Rubenstein is not only brilliant at putting together and analyzing ideas; she’s also a lively (and quite accessible) writer." * Christian Century *"Rubenstein is not against utopianism, but she argues that Silicon Valley techno-utopianism is fraudulent, using the rhetoric of science and reason to disguise the fact that its promises are actually unscientific and unrealistic. Instead, she advocates that we get our ideas for a beautiful human future from a diverse array of other sources, from feminist science fiction to indigenous thinkers. Rubenstein offers us a starting point for thinking about how we might forge a path for our species that is egalitarian and humane." * Current Affairs *"Rubenstein takes apart the mindset that wants to establish outposts on the moon, mine water and metals, and colonise Mars. . . . Should we study and explore space? Yes, but not if science means heedless exploitation, argues the book. Ethical exploration would avoid damage and violence and prioritise knowledge over profit. It would keep earth’s own needs first, like using technology to better track weather and disaster, or deploying billionaire surpluses on this planet before remaking others. Otherwise, what we do to the earth, we will do outside earth." * Times of India *"I’m not a pantheist but the argument does carry some weight: our rationalistic relationship with the modern world has denied us of any real, meaningful connection with Mother Nature. We’re instead too focused on our divine destiny in the stars. But if we ruin the Moon or Mars or any other planet, then what is really the point of it all in the first place? . . . In the conclusion of Astrotopia, Rubenstein asserts the need for a pantheist revolution against the Western view of God as a single entity. Instead we should embrace God as being within everything. It’s a fundamental rewriting of our position in the cosmos, and a repositioning of the cosmos around us. A more spiritual approach to spacefaring might just allow us to avoid our earthly mistakes, and explore space ethically. And if we learn any lessons from our time here on Earth, it should not be ‘how space belongs to us, but how we belong to it.’ As Carl Sagan said, we are, each of us, made of star-stuff." -- James Tatam * Nature Astronomy *"Astrotopia makes a powerful argument that we are approaching space exploration with the same old imperial Christian mythology, making space merely a thing to be exploited." -- Hilary Lamb * Engineering and Technology *"Rubenstein's work is always delightfully readable and engagingly enlightening, but Astrotopia feels more immediate, because the message is both timely and urgent. A book of cultural criticism as well as consciousness raising, Astrotopia is meant to reach beyond the philosophers of religion and space historians to the interested layperson who needs to know how the world’s wealthiest people are 'rehashing' themes of Christian conquest to justify their manifest destiny in space. . . . Astrotopia is downright fun when it’s centered on the two focus-pulling, spotlight-stealing, grand-gesturing, dueling ringmasters themselves—Musk and Bezos—mostly because Rubenstein’s tone as she recounts the litanies of their outsized ideas is that of an exasperated Greek chorus." -- Catherine L. Newell * The Revealer *"Few books of late have given me such pause as Rubenstein’s thoughtful Astrotopia. Like many, I had considered space travel an untrammeled good (despite its origins in the destructive political rivalries of the Cold War and recent reliance on individual, stupidly-rich capitalists to move its development forward). Like many, I would love a Star Trek universe where humans peaceably coexist and thrive on hundreds of new worlds, the sins of the past behind us as we progress together in the noble spirit of exploration ever onward into bright futures. But what Rubenstein makes so clear is that today that kind of future utopia seems wholly unlikely. Without a severe imaginative reset, we may be doomed to repeat our imperialist and colonialist sins of the past, this time with the planet at stake." -- Jeremy Brett * Ancillary Review of Books *"Astrotopia presents an examination of the current state of space exploration juxtaposed with the history of previous periods of exploration—and exploitation—here on Earth. Rubenstein . . . brings a particularly interesting perspective to the subject in examining not only the histories themselves but the motivations concurrent with them. . . . What’s more, she caps her examination with the presentation of an alternative of how the future of space exploration might unfold if undertaken with appropriate reflection upon the past, and a reexamination of the motivations and methods for its continuance." -- Johannes E. Riutta * Well-read Naturalist *"A new book, Astrotopia, lays out in the most fascinating terms the ways in which things are very much going wrong up there beyond the wild blue yonder. . . . In the end, it’s not the Tesla in orbit that bothers. It’s this: 'When asked why he wants to "save" humanity by sending us to Mars rather than addressing injustice, poverty and climate change on Earth, Musk will often laugh and say, "F— Earth." Earth is done; Earth is history; Earth is so last eon.' . . . Sure, we can and should go joy-riding in our planetary neighborhood. But we still have a chance to save the most hospitable planet we know, Rubenstein writes. Let’s give it the old college try before saying F-it.” -- Larry Wilson * Orange County Register *"Why are American taxpayers giving billions in contracts to Elon Musk to send astronauts back to the Moon, and dangling a second contract for a lunar lander to Jeff Bezos, two of the world’s richest tech billionaires? For the answer to these questions, I strongly suggest you read Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. . . . In highly entertaining prose, Rubenstein unpacks the absurdity of Musk and Bezos’s space ambitions while exploring the larger issue of how our national priorities for space continue to be guided by destructive myths instead of sustainable, peaceful ones." -- Micah L. Sifry * The Connector *"Astrotopia is superb and will fascinate anyone curious about the current space fervor." * Booklist *"Rubenstein lends fresh energy to a familiar debate about the value of space programs, dreams of mining the solar system, and colonizing the moon and Mars." * Kirkus Reviews *"A singular perspective on space technology, with unexpected comparisons to colonialism that will make readers think twice about the future of humanity on other planets." -- Jennifer Moore * Library Journal *"In Astrotopia, the philosopher Rubenstein argues that the twenty-first-century private space race being carried out by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and others has become a ‘mythological project’ analogous to the type of ‘imperial Christianity’ that was used by Europeans to colonize more than half the planet. Discussing the era of private competition in space, known as NewSpace, she argues that we need to act now to prevent it from being rapaciously exploited by capitalists. Yet perhaps the most provocative portion of the book looks toward the past: Rubenstein convincingly demonstrates that NASA and US politicians used Christian imperialist language to justify the Apollo missions. In other words, it’s no coincidence that the Apollo 8 crew read from the book of Genesis while orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968." * Physics Today *"In her book Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race, religion professor Mary-Jane Rubenstein describes the pull of the cosmos as 'mythic.' And she’s right: there is something truly spiritual about our cosmos—it has a God-like ability to make you feel small. As Rubenstein beautifully writes, 'Innumerable suns warming scadzillions of planets, with oceans and dust storms and cloud microbes and who knows what else, all in constant motion through infinite space and time, and here you are, making a cheese sandwich, nowhere in particular.'" * New Voices *"This book critically analyzes the motivations of commercial space entities from the perspective of a professor of religion, science, and technology. The early commercial space flight endeavors described in the book are appropriately compared to the exploits of early colonialists who ventured into ‘unexplored’ lands in pursuit of resources and settlement opportunities. Rubenstein also provides convincing examples of how many of the ongoing commercial space activities are not fully evaluated for various ethical issues related to space operations, including the issues raised by the prospects of, e.g., space tourism, outer space settlement, and exploitation of planetary resources. The author unapologetically describes how the commercial space flight missions currently sensationalized in the news are reminiscent of the avaricious and contentious European colonization of territories outside continental Europe. She points out, moreover, that the benefits of these high-profile space flight activities are not inclusive to all and that policy makers have not fully considered the ownership of outer space territories and natural resources extracted from other planets. Ample references support the chapters. Highly recommended." * Choice *“A timely book that makes an important and well-argued point: that the new space race, indeed much like the old one, is driven largely by a combination of an instinct for capitalist exploitation and colonization coupled to a quasi-religious impulse drawing on some of the worst of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Astrotopia ought to stimulate some much-needed debate.” -- Philip Ball, author of "The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination"“One of the most philosophically sophisticated, mythically impactful, contemporarily relevant, and wickedly funny books I have read in a very long time. ‘Influential’ is a grotesque understatement. ‘Game-changing’ is more like it.” -- Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of "The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge"“The NewSpace era is marked by growing excitement and worry. The most significant issue moving forward is how to prevent destructive practices from crystallizing as the space endeavor grows. The first thing to do is to dispel the myth from the reality, and this book is one attempt to do that. For this field to advance, we need more critical perspectives that are forward-looking and suggest a pathway toward alternative hopeful and inclusive space futures.” -- Timiebi Aganaba, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University“This book is a must-read for anyone who believes that the space race is a romantic enterprise defining humanity’s destiny. Alas, as Rubenstein argues with wit and urgency, the space race is a reinvention of the worst colonialism has to offer, a mythologized narrative of exploitation and hubris poised to turn outer space into ‘another theater of greed and war.’” -- Marcelo Gleiser, Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy, Dartmouth College, 2019 Templeton Prize Laureate“Astrotopia is an adventurous ride into outer space. Rubenstein masterfully places our desire to travel the cosmic seas within a historical and religious context, which is illuminating. Sublimely entertaining, Rubenstein brings levity to such a complex subject matter. To understand the future of the space industry, Astrotopia is a must-read.” -- Ingrid LaFleur, founder and director, The Afrofuture Strategies Institute“Astrotopia is a timely and lively read that helps us see the old myths behind NewSpace. Rubenstein exposes the religious and imperialistic roots of our outer-space plans, challenging us to rethink our motivations and justifications for our dreams of leaving Earth. Anyone who has ever asked why we are so intent on going to Mars and elsewhere, and especially those of us who consider ourselves space enthusiasts, should read this and ask whether we’re really satisfied with the futures being drawn up for us by astro-oligarchs or whether there may be other, and better, options.” -- David Grinspoon, coauthor of "Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto"Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: We Hold This Myth to Be Potential 1 Our Infinite Future in Infinite Space 2 Creation and Conquest 3 The American Promised Land 4 The Final Frontier 5 Whose Space Is It? 6 The Rights of Rocks 7 Other Spacetimes Conclusion: Revolt of the Pantheists Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisMary-Jane Rubenstein provides a conceptual genealogy of pantheisms. What makes pantheism “monstrous”—at once repellent and seductive—is that it scrambles the raced and gendered distinctions that Western philosophy and theology insist on drawing between activity and passivity, spirit and matter, animacy and inanimacy, and creator and created.Trade Review. . . Rubenstein’s writing is delightfully witty and often poetic in a way which can uniquely maintain its many strands. -- Alison Renna Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA * Worldviews *Rubenstein’s critical readings are cogent and deft. The book is both erudite and adventurous. -- Beatrice Marovich * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Rubenstein's examination of pantheism renders a comprehensive and pluralistic view of the cosmos that will interest readers curious about the intersection of religion and philosophy. * Library Journal *Given the rise of scholarship in 'new materialism' and renewed focus on immanence, this book is an important addition to the literature. . . Recommended. * Choice *Mary-Jane Rubenstein’s book, Pantheologies, is an essential addition to any science and religion class or graduate studies class in philosophy of religion or theology. It gives a solid overview of Baruch Spinoza, Giordano Bruno, and Albert Einstein, introduces many new animist viewpoints, and examines the metaphysics of numerous indigenous religions. -- Darren Iammarino * Nova Religio *Pantheologies is an elegant and lively tour of pantheism and of the racialized gender panics it has prompted in Euro-American thought. I leave the book with the sense that the goat-god Pan is still roaming around, disrupting the either/ors of Western metaphysics and presenting a cosmos both more amazing and more discomfiting. Rubenstein has written an excellent book. -- Jane Bennett, author of Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of ThingsIn Pantheologies, Mary-Jane Rubenstein answers the old problem of the One and the Many by offering a resolute triumph of the Many over the One. Give Rubenstein a One—any one—and she will make a Many out of it. I applaud this temperament, as William James called it, and the intuition that it generates and reflects. Multiplicity, thy name is woman. Rubenstein will save us every time from the totalitarian tendencies of certain regions of process philosophy, from the Teutonic idealisms of post-Hegelian theologies, even from the totalizing forms of monistic pantheisms. -- Nancy Frankenberry, editor of The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own WordsIt is not out of charity or historicism that Mary-Jane Rubenstein channels this maligned, misunderstood, and mangled legacy. No, there is something in the pan of theism that our Anthropocene mess of a species (its atheists and its theologians included) needs. Now. Mesmerized by the brilliant weave of Pantheologies’ irresistible irony, gorgeous prose, and holographic erudition, readers will be hooked by a mystery too suspenseful in its plotline and too urgent in its intersections to set aside. -- Catherine Keller, author of Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New PublicPantheologies should be of interest to religious studies scholars, philosophers, scientists, and theologically curious political activists alike, by virtue of its broad intellectual scope, engaging rhetoric, and urgent ethical reflection. * Reading Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Matter with PantheismPanic1. PanPanterruption2. HylePanfusion3. CosmosPancarnation4. TheosPandemoniumNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOne of the most gripping and timely accounts of Continental Philosophy... The reader can only come to the end of this book astonished. -- Catherine Keller Modern Theology In all, the book offers a new understanding of an influential sector of twentieth-century philosophy. -- Jonathan Malesic Journal of the American Academy of Religion ...passionately argued and engagingly written. -- Paul A. Macdonald Jr. Scottish Journal of Theology a fun read. -- George Pattison Reviews in Religion and TheologyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Wonder and the Births of Philosophy 1. Repetition: Martin Heidegger 2. Openness: Emmanuel Levinas 3. Relation: Jean-Luc Nancy 4. Decision: Jacques Derrida Postlude: Possibility Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOne of the most gripping and timely accounts of Continental Philosophy... The reader can only come to the end of this book astonished. -- Catherine Keller Modern Theology In all, the book offers a new understanding of an influential sector of twentieth-century philosophy. -- Jonathan Malesic Journal of the American Academy of Religion ...passionately argued and engagingly written. -- Paul A. Macdonald Jr. Scottish Journal of Theology a fun read. -- George Pattison Reviews in Religion and TheologyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Wonder and the Births of Philosophy 1. Repetition: Martin Heidegger 2. Openness: Emmanuel Levinas 3. Relation: Jean-Luc Nancy 4. Decision: Jacques Derrida Postlude: Possibility Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisMary-Jane Rubenstein provides a conceptual genealogy of pantheisms. What makes pantheism “monstrous”—at once repellent and seductive—is that it scrambles the raced and gendered distinctions that Western philosophy and theology insist on drawing between activity and passivity, spirit and matter, animacy and inanimacy, and creator and created.Trade Review. . . Rubenstein’s writing is delightfully witty and often poetic in a way which can uniquely maintain its many strands. -- Alison Renna Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA * Worldviews *Rubenstein’s critical readings are cogent and deft. The book is both erudite and adventurous. -- Beatrice Marovich * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Rubenstein's examination of pantheism renders a comprehensive and pluralistic view of the cosmos that will interest readers curious about the intersection of religion and philosophy. * Library Journal *Given the rise of scholarship in 'new materialism' and renewed focus on immanence, this book is an important addition to the literature. . . Recommended. * Choice *Mary-Jane Rubenstein’s book, Pantheologies, is an essential addition to any science and religion class or graduate studies class in philosophy of religion or theology. It gives a solid overview of Baruch Spinoza, Giordano Bruno, and Albert Einstein, introduces many new animist viewpoints, and examines the metaphysics of numerous indigenous religions. -- Darren Iammarino * Nova Religio *Pantheologies is an elegant and lively tour of pantheism and of the racialized gender panics it has prompted in Euro-American thought. I leave the book with the sense that the goat-god Pan is still roaming around, disrupting the either/ors of Western metaphysics and presenting a cosmos both more amazing and more discomfiting. Rubenstein has written an excellent book. -- Jane Bennett, author of Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of ThingsIn Pantheologies, Mary-Jane Rubenstein answers the old problem of the One and the Many by offering a resolute triumph of the Many over the One. Give Rubenstein a One—any one—and she will make a Many out of it. I applaud this temperament, as William James called it, and the intuition that it generates and reflects. Multiplicity, thy name is woman. Rubenstein will save us every time from the totalitarian tendencies of certain regions of process philosophy, from the Teutonic idealisms of post-Hegelian theologies, even from the totalizing forms of monistic pantheisms. -- Nancy Frankenberry, editor of The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own WordsIt is not out of charity or historicism that Mary-Jane Rubenstein channels this maligned, misunderstood, and mangled legacy. No, there is something in the pan of theism that our Anthropocene mess of a species (its atheists and its theologians included) needs. Now. Mesmerized by the brilliant weave of Pantheologies’ irresistible irony, gorgeous prose, and holographic erudition, readers will be hooked by a mystery too suspenseful in its plotline and too urgent in its intersections to set aside. -- Catherine Keller, author of Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New PublicPantheologies should be of interest to religious studies scholars, philosophers, scientists, and theologically curious political activists alike, by virtue of its broad intellectual scope, engaging rhetoric, and urgent ethical reflection. * Reading Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Matter with PantheismPanic1. PanPanterruption2. HylePanfusion3. CosmosPancarnation4. TheosPandemoniumNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAn exciting look at contemporary scientific cosmologies and their relationship to philosophy and religion.Trade ReviewRubenstein grounds the current debate on the plurality of universes on solid scholarship, skillfully exploring its historical and philosophical roots. -- Marcelo Gleiser, Dartmouth College This is a work that performs the 'many-oneness' of the multiverse, whose history and potentiality it maps. As she traces the startling philosophical depths, mystical ancestry, and scientific shocks of this cosmic boundlessness, Rubenstein's brilliance sparkles like its innumerable stars. -- Catherine Keller, author of Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming Some physicists suggest that our cosmos has been caught in an endless loop, repeatedly cycling between big bangs since time immemorial. In Worlds Without End, Mary-Jane Rubenstein provides a remarkable tour of how such ideas-and competing ideas about whether our universe is embedded within some larger multiverse-have likewise been cycling throughout Western thought for millennia. This deeply learned excavation is a rare accomplishment: a page-turner that asks large questions about science, philosophy, and religion. Fascinating. -- David Kaiser, author of How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival We are living through a golden age of cosmology, when observations reveal a universe 13.8 billion years big and new theories and new evidence vie with one another almost on a daily basis. Rubenstein is an expert guide to this dramatic scene. Uncovering humorous comparisons with the past, she shows that our golden age is tarnished in only a few ways. We cannot tell which of the many-worlds hypotheses is the right one, whether they exist under an integrated set of laws, and we may never be able to so. Yet the quest continues and produces many profound insights. Rubenstein shows the way scientific worldviews grow from the kind of questions we ask, how metaphysics and physics are mutually entangled, and how the many worlds of her title emerge, again and again over two thousand years, often in spite of their authors' intentions and taste. A witty and mature view of views. -- Charles Jencks , author of The Garden of Cosmic Speculation A must read for anyone who is interested in the evolution of human thought about the cosmos. The reader is led through the history of philosophical, religious and scientific ideas and arguments for the existence of many worlds then left to contemplate their own ending to the cosmic story. A beautiful and authoritative description of the struggles and developments of competing ideas about nature for the past three millenia -- Laura Mersini-Houghton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Rubenstein's witty, thought-provoking history of philosophy and physics leaves one in awe of just how close Thomas Aquinas and American physicist Steven Weinberg are in spirit as they seek ultimate answers. Publishers Weekly Wonderful... A fun, mind-stretching read, clear and enlightening. San Francisco Book Review A fascinating and very well-written book... Green Spirit Magazine An excellent starting point for those wishing to go even deeper down the throat of the wormhole. Recommended. CHOICE If one seeks a scholarly account of the main ideas rather than of the detailed science, then Worlds Without End is excellent. Physics TodayTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: How to Avoid the G-Word 1. A Single, Complete Whole 2. Ancient Openings of Multiplicity 3. Navigating the Infinite 4. Measuring the Immeasurable 5. Bangs, Bubbles, and Branes: Atomists Versus Stoics, Take Two 6. Ascending to the Ultimate Multiverse Unendings: On the Entanglement of Science and Religion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis collection examines the intersections of religion and “new” materialisms. Calling upon an interdisciplinary throng of scholars in science studies, religious studies, and theology, it assembles a multiplicity of experimental perspectives on materiality: what is matter, how does it materialize, and what sort of worlds are enacted in its varied entanglements with divinity?Trade Review"As new understandings of matter and materialism continue to gain visibility and generate interest, Entangled Worlds makes an essential contribution: While theorists of materialism often assume that science and religious thought are at odds, the essays collected here demonstrate that a sophisticated understanding of theology and religion enriches our understanding of materiality in its full liveliness and complexity. A focus on materiality, in turn, changes and enriches theology. These smart and well written essays will be invaluable to readers across both the humanities and sciences." -- -Karmen MacKendrick McDevitt Center for Creativity and Innovation at Le Moyne College

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Book SynopsisPolydox Reflections stages a critical dialogue concerning the ethical and theological viability of polydoxy, a trend in contemporary theology that emphasizes the multiplicity of creation, religious traditions, and divinity itself.Table of ContentsIntroducing Polydoxy (Mary-Jane Rubenstein) 1. History, Theology, Orthodoxy, Polydoxy (Virginia Burrus) 2. Tradition on Fire: Polydoxy, Orthodoxy, and Theological Epistemology (Shannon Craigo-Snell) 3. Polyhairesis: On Postmodern and Chinese Folds (Clayton Crockett) 4. The Logic of Origin and the Paradoxes of Language: A Theological Experiment (Linn Marie Tonstad) 5. Receiving the Gift (Graham Ward) 6. Writing-Terrors: A Dialectical Lyric (Mark D. Jordan) 7. “There is Hope for a Tree”: Lament and Hope in Conversation with Polydoxy (Wendy Farley) 8. Getting it Right (Laurel C. Schneider) 9. “Theology’s Multitude: Polydoxy Reviewed and Renewed” (Catherine Keller) Index Notes on contributors

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Book SynopsisThis collection examines the intersections of religion and “new” materialisms. Calling upon an interdisciplinary throng of scholars in science studies, religious studies, and theology, it assembles a multiplicity of experimental perspectives on materiality: what is matter, how does it materialize, and what sort of worlds are enacted in its varied entanglements with divinity?Trade Review"As new understandings of matter and materialism continue to gain visibility and generate interest, Entangled Worlds makes an essential contribution: While theorists of materialism often assume that science and religious thought are at odds, the essays collected here demonstrate that a sophisticated understanding of theology and religion enriches our understanding of materiality in its full liveliness and complexity. A focus on materiality, in turn, changes and enriches theology. These smart and well written essays will be invaluable to readers across both the humanities and sciences." -- -Karmen MacKendrick McDevitt Center for Creativity and Innovation at Le Moyne College

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Book SynopsisThis volume gathers scholars in philosophy, psychology, religion, and sociology variety of disciplines to meet the challenge of how to think trauma and transcendence inlight of the interdisciplinary character of the field of Trauma Studies and its splintering across the multiple theoretical approaches.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction: Limits of Theory in Trauma and Transcendence Eric Boynton and Peter Capretto Constructive Phenomenologies of Trauma 1. Two Trauma Communities: A Philosophical Archaeology of Cultural and Clinical Trauma Theories Vincenzo Di Nicola 2. Phenomenological-Contextualism All the Way Down: An Existential and Ethical Perspective on Emotional Trauma Robert D. Stolorow 3. Traumatized by Transcendence: My Other’s Keeper Donna Orange 4. Evil, Trauma, and the Building of Absences Eric Boynton 5. The Unsettling of Perception: Levinas and the Anarchic Trauma Eric Severson Social and Political Analyses of Traumatic Experience 6. The Artful Politics of Trauma: Rancière’s Critique of Lyotard Tina Chanter 7. Black Embodied Wounds and the Traumatic Impact of the White Imaginary George Yancy 8. Perpetrator Trauma and Collective Guilt: My Lai Ronald Eyerman 9. The Psychic Economy and Fetishization of Traumatic Lived Experience Peter Capretto Theological Aporia in the Aftermath of Trauma 10. Theopoetics of Trauma Shelly Rambo 11. Body-Wise: Re-Fleshing Christian Spiritual Practice in Trauma’s Wake Marcia Mount Shoop 12. Trauma and Theology: Prospects and Limits in Light of the Cross Hilary Jerome Scarsella Prospects 13. Prospects of Trauma for the Philosophy of Religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume gathers scholars in philosophy, psychology, religion, and sociology variety of disciplines to meet the challenge of how to think trauma and transcendence inlight of the interdisciplinary character of the field of Trauma Studies and its splintering across the multiple theoretical approaches.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction: Limits of Theory in Trauma and Transcendence Eric Boynton and Peter Capretto Constructive Phenomenologies of Trauma 1. Two Trauma Communities: A Philosophical Archaeology of Cultural and Clinical Trauma Theories Vincenzo Di Nicola 2. Phenomenological-Contextualism All the Way Down: An Existential and Ethical Perspective on Emotional Trauma Robert D. Stolorow 3. Traumatized by Transcendence: My Other’s Keeper Donna Orange 4. Evil, Trauma, and the Building of Absences Eric Boynton 5. The Unsettling of Perception: Levinas and the Anarchic Trauma Eric Severson Social and Political Analyses of Traumatic Experience 6. The Artful Politics of Trauma: Rancière’s Critique of Lyotard Tina Chanter 7. Black Embodied Wounds and the Traumatic Impact of the White Imaginary George Yancy 8. Perpetrator Trauma and Collective Guilt: My Lai Ronald Eyerman 9. The Psychic Economy and Fetishization of Traumatic Lived Experience Peter Capretto Theological Aporia in the Aftermath of Trauma 10. Theopoetics of Trauma Shelly Rambo 11. Body-Wise: Re-Fleshing Christian Spiritual Practice in Trauma’s Wake Marcia Mount Shoop 12. Trauma and Theology: Prospects and Limits in Light of the Cross Hilary Jerome Scarsella Prospects 13. Prospects of Trauma for the Philosophy of Religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Image's essays] exemplify what philosophy of religion can do. They demonstrate that philosophy of religion means something different now. It is not, or no longer, an insular, abstracted subspecialty. What we call philosophy of religion is, now, away of engagement: with the material realities we inhabit, with pressing questions we have about them, and with possible futures they—and so we—might live into." * Journal of Religion *“Image is a gorgeous volume of ideas from three of the most significant philosophers of religion and culture. Deep fakes. Love and death. Sun Ra and the absurdity of Silicon Valley futurists—all come together in a way that is accessible and unexpected. This will be essential reading for years to come.” -- John Lardas Modern, author of Neuromatic; or, A Particular History of Religion and the Brain“In Image, three distinguished scholars draw inspiration from a host of innovative thinkers to address our contemporary preoccupation with what can only be called the ‘posthuman.’ It is a small masterpiece. Specialists in religion, philosophy, technology studies, feminist studies, aesthetics, and phenomenology will delight in this book.” -- Nancy K. Frankenberry, John Phillips Professor in Religion Emerita, Dartmouth College"In this coauthored book, Taylor, Rubenstein, and Carlson deliver richly conceived interpretations of images in modern cultural history... The book combines a sophisticated understanding of specific cases and historical events with analyses of timeless questions that will surely haunt and inspire the human imagination for generations to come... Highly recommended." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Image's essays] exemplify what philosophy of religion can do. They demonstrate that philosophy of religion means something different now. It is not, or no longer, an insular, abstracted subspecialty. What we call philosophy of religion is, now, away of engagement: with the material realities we inhabit, with pressing questions we have about them, and with possible futures they—and so we—might live into." * Journal of Religion *“Image is a gorgeous volume of ideas from three of the most significant philosophers of religion and culture. Deep fakes. Love and death. Sun Ra and the absurdity of Silicon Valley futurists—all come together in a way that is accessible and unexpected. This will be essential reading for years to come.” -- John Lardas Modern, author of Neuromatic; or, A Particular History of Religion and the Brain“In Image, three distinguished scholars draw inspiration from a host of innovative thinkers to address our contemporary preoccupation with what can only be called the ‘posthuman.’ It is a small masterpiece. Specialists in religion, philosophy, technology studies, feminist studies, aesthetics, and phenomenology will delight in this book.” -- Nancy K. Frankenberry, John Phillips Professor in Religion Emerita, Dartmouth College"In this coauthored book, Taylor, Rubenstein, and Carlson deliver richly conceived interpretations of images in modern cultural history... The book combines a sophisticated understanding of specific cases and historical events with analyses of timeless questions that will surely haunt and inspire the human imagination for generations to come... Highly recommended." * Choice *

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