2019/09/04

Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System: Ian Angus: 9781583676097: Amazon.com: Books

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Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System Paperback – July 1, 2016
by Ian Angus (Author)
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"A crisp, eloquent and deeply informed call to arms by a leading eco-socialist." -author of Planet of Slums and In Praise of Barbarians: Essays against Empire,Mike Davis
About the Author

Ian Angus is editor of the online ecosocialist journal Climate and Capitalism. He is also the author of Facing the Anthropocene.

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Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Monthly Review Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781583676097
ISBN-13: 978-1583676097
ASIN: 1583676090
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars 7 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#243 in Economic Policy
#179 in Environmental Policy
#220 in Communism & Socialism (Books)

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Biography
IAN ANGUS is a socialist educator, historian and activist based in Canada. He speaks frequently at conferences on socialist and ecological issues, and his articles have been published in journals and newspapers around the world.

His most recent book is FACING THE ANTHROPOCENE: DIGITAL CAPITALISM AND THE CRISIS OF THE EARTH SYSTEM, which noted ecosocialist Michaey Lowy describes as "an outstanding contribution, not only for understanding the nature of the Anthropocene and its deadly consequences for human life, but also for explaining its social and economic causes."

In TOO MANY PEOPLE? POPULATION, IMMIGRATION, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, co-written with Simon Butler, he provided .a clear, well-documented, and popularly written refutation of the idea that “overpopulation” is a major cause of environmental destruction, arguing that a focus on human numbers not only misunderstands the causes of the crisis, it dangerously weakens the movement for real solutions.

His book CANADIAN BOLSHEVIKS: THE EARLY YEARS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA, has been described by academic reviewers as "an underground classic among historians of the Canadian left" and "required reading for anyone seriously interested in the history of communism in Canada." A second edition was published in 2004.

Ian Angus is Editor of Climate and Capitalism, an online journal focusing on capitalism, climate change, and the ecosocialist alternative which has attracted writers and readers from every continent. http://.climateandcapitalism.com

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AutonomeusTop Contributor: Classic Rock
5.0 out of 5 stars Crucially important book on climate change and the ecological crisisJanuary 3, 2017
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This short (232-page), accessible book makes a unique contribution among all the books now written on climate change and the ecological crisis. Ian Angus summarizes for a popular audience the developments leading to the designation of our time by leading earth scientists as the "Anthropocene," a new geological epoch shaped by the destructive actions of human society.

Paul Crutzen, the atmospheric chemist who won a Nobel Prize for his work identifying the hole in the ozone layer and its cause, coined the term "Anthropocene" in 2000, and it rapidly spread. It has now been recommended to the International Geological Congress and is pending official adoption.

The work leading to this new scientific periodization was carried out by earth scientists in the IGBP (the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program), formed in 1986 by the International Council of Scientific Unions, and published in 2004 as Global Change and the Earth System, edited by Steffen et al, published by Springer.

The first section of the book, "A No-Analog State," summarizes the earth science in a concise and gripping fashion, making clear that the placid, stable period of the Holocene, which made the growth of the human population and the rise of human "civilization" possible, has now come to an end. There will be no new Ice Age -- the massive CO2 emissions since WWII make that impossible. There will be only global warming and potentially catastrophic climate change unless we reverse course.

The final piece of the analysis of the "Anthropocene" is to date its beginning. Some have argued for an early date corresponding to the start of capitalism, but Angus conveys the earth scientists' conclusion that it was in fact the "Great Acceleration" after World War Two that clearly marks the beginning of the Anthropocene.

The second section of the book, "Fossil Capitalism," documents the Great Acceleration in the U.S. and then elsewhere, the development of an automobile-centered, fossil fuel-driven capitalist society, and a massive, oil-driven military used to assert control of the globe.

The last section of the book, "The Alternative," is inevitably the weakest. Angus argues for ecosocialism, but of course no one knows exactly what that is or how to create it starting from our current doomed society. Angus, along with John Bellamy Foster of Monthly Review Press, advocates a Marxism with an ecological component that was overlooked by most Marxists until recently and that would avoid the ecological disaster of the Soviet Union.

Clearly, based on the alarming conclusions of earth science, radical change is urgently required, and we need to act against the Fossil Fuel Industry and "fossil capitalism" while we debate the contours of the new ecological society!

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Newsrocket
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the many fire bells on the subject of climate change...September 10, 2016
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Ought to be required reading for every high school junior in the country before they get slammed by last-century thinking on the street.

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Steve in Long Beach
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful bookMay 20, 2019
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Very worthwhile read. Lots of important information presented in an engaging way.

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Jason
5.0 out of 5 stars Candid and on the nose. Required reading to understand what's coming.September 2, 2018
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Highly recommend this book.

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Bill G
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful bookNovember 20, 2017
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Pretty gritty book - plain spoken and scientific. Gives you the basics but also has more dense material. Incorporates a Marxist analysis of the capitalist system as it has become.

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Stephen J. Shlafer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsAugust 20, 2017
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Excellent

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent critical analysis of the most important we face as a speciesOctober 3, 2016
Format: Paperback
One of the most significant strengths of this book is the way in which it brings together an enormous diversity of insights into a comprehensive synthesis of the Anthropocene. The analysis traverses not only the basic science of climate change and other planetary boundaries such as ocean acidification, the nitrogen cycle, and biodiversity decline, but links this fundamentally to the history of ‘fossil capitalism’ and the complex political economy which enabled the Great Acceleration of post-Second World War economic growth. There is much to learn in reading this book! Essential reading for all those concerned about the climate crisis and what we need to do to limit catastrophe. (You can read my full review of this book here: [...])

7 people found this helpful

-----------------

Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System

Ian Angus

Science tells us that a new and dangerous stage in planetary evolution has begun—the Anthropocene, a time of rising temperatures, extreme weather, rising oceans, and mass species extinctions. Humanity faces not just more pollution or warmer weather, but a crisis of the Earth System. If business as usual continues, this century will be marked by rapid deterioration of our physical, social, and economic environment.

Large parts of Earth will become uninhabitable, and civilization itself will be threatened. Facing the Anthropocene shows what has caused this planetary emergency, and what we must do to meet the challenge. Bridging the gap between Earth System science and ecological Marxism, Ian Angus examines not only the latest scientific findings about the physical causes and consequences of the Anthropocene transition, but also the social and economic trends that underlie the crisis.

Cogent and compellingly written, Facing the Anthropocene offers a unique synthesis of natural and social science that illustrates how capitalism's inexorable drive for growth, powered by the rapid burning of fossil fuels that took millions of years to form, has driven our world to the brink of disaster. Survival in the Anthropocene, Angus argues, requires radical social change, replacing fossil capitalism with a new, ecosocialist civilization.

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Publisher: Monthly Review Press

Release date: 2016

Format: EPUB

Size: 1.44 MB

Language: English

Pages: 280

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The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture: Wendell Berry: 9781619025998: Amazon.com: Books

Since its publication in 1977, The Unsettling of America has been recognized as a classic of American letters. In it, Wendell Berry argues that good farming is a cultural and spiritual discipline. Today’s agribusiness, however, takes farming out of its cultural context and away from families. As a result, we as a nation are more estranged from the land―from the intimate knowledge, love, and care of it.

Sadly, his arguments and observations are more relevant than ever. Although “this book has not had the happy fate of being proved wrong,” Berry writes, there are people working “to make something comely and enduring of our life on this earth.” Wendell Berry is one of those people, writing and working, as ever, with passion, eloquence, and conviction.

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The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture Paperback – September 15, 2015
by Wendell Berry (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 32 customer reviews

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About the Author

Wendell Berry is the author of more than fifty books of poetry, fiction, and essays. He was recently awarded the National Humanities Medal, the Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and the Louis Bromfield Society Award. For more than forty years he has lived and farmed with his wife, Tanya, in Kentucky.

Product details

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Counterpoint; Reprint edition (September 15, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 161902599X
ISBN-13: 978-1619025998
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars 32 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#1818 in Social Sciences (Books)
#56 in Food Science (Books)
#4 in Agricultural Science History

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Biography
Wendell E. Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. A prolific author, he has written many novels, short stories, poems, and essays. He is an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a recipient of The National Humanities Medal, and the Jefferson Lecturer for 2012. He is also a 2013 Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Berry was named the recipient of the 2013 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. On January 28, 2015, he became the first living writer to be ushered into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Guy Mendes (Guy Mendes) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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L. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Industrial Agriculture Wrecks Not Just Health But CommunitySeptember 27, 2016
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This is the classic expression of Wendell Berry's particular type of environmentalism, one that does not see agriculture as the problem, and pristine and untouched nature preserves as the solution, but specifically targets large-scale industrial agriculture. Berry exposes the many ways in which we pay more in hidden costs for our cheap and fattening "food" and how the industrial food system has not only wrecked our diet but families and communities in the process. Perhaps inadvertently Berry reveals what today's conservatives have missed, that there's a world of difference between multinational conglomerates that process corn into all sorts of by-products and food for beef cattle, and more local farms and businesses. The former breaks down communities, and the other (at least potentially) builds them up. One controls more of your life than you think, and the other hands your life and your freedom back to you. Berry's knowledgeable about all the old farming practices that many have forgotten, practices also promoted by Michael Pollan, that eliminate much or all of the need for external "inputs" such as fertilizer, pesticides and antibiotics. He has one foot in the past, and the other firmly planted in our future, hoping to bridge the gap.

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Wayne F Reed
4.0 out of 5 stars chemical farm treats animal manure as ‘toxic waste’ and so creates itself the problem of disposing of the waste instead of usefully composting itJune 7, 2018
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Much of Wendell’s thinking struck a deep, long term cord with me. But I will state up front that , while I think he is absolutely right in so many fundamental ways, he is quixotic beyond any reality, and so represents a ‘lost, noble cause’.
His basic premise is to decry modern technology’s inexorable lurch towards ‘efficiency’, what Spike South and I used to speak of as ‘the spirit of the hound’, the tendency of the technocracy to go after the jugular of an issue with fangs bared and no holds barred; no complex human dimensions need be considered. The growing efficiency is manifested in the legions of ‘experts and specialists’. Berry points out the modern person has become merely a ‘consumer’, who lives in a house built by a specialist, drives a car built by another specialist, eats food grown and processed by other specialists, and, after a day of work at his own specialty, comes home to be entertained by entertainment specialists on television. The consumer may live an entire life without eating any food he has produced or using a single item he has crafted.
Berry focuses on the effects of specialization on U.S. agriculture, how its growth into ‘Agribusiness’, controlled by large corporations and, abetted by the Dept. of Agriculture and the land grant colleges, has virtually destroyed the equilibrium of traditional farming. Agribusiness is a sprawling industrial complex that includes the petrochemical industry for fertilizer and fuel, heavy equipment manufacturers of tractors and other machinery, processing, packaging, and transportation networks, and wealthy financial organizations that drive farmers into debt as they are forced to acquire the new technology or perish. At one point he calls modern farmers colonies of the petrochemical industry. He calls this technologically based agriculture ‘orthodox agriculture’. He bears especial animus towards former Sectretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, who he sees as having set the tone and propagandized for Agribusiness, ‘weaponizing food’, modulating international food supplies, and depopulating the agricultural population, driving those folks off their ancestral lands and into alienation and despair in the cities.
He sees traditional farming, with a healthy dose of modern enlightenment, as the ideal; a farm that uses natural energy, that of the sun, of draft animals, of the earth, water, and of the farmers themselves, instead of full dependence on fossil fuel and heavy machinery. This farm has a multitude of crops and animals- not the unnatural monoculture touted by modern orthodoxy- uses crop rotation, animal manure as fertilizer, and other natural resources for buildings and farm operations. The orthodox, chemical farm treats animal manure as ‘toxic waste’ and so creates itself the problem of disposing of the waste instead of usefully composting it. By studying the few old fashioned remaining farms, with a special reverence for the Amish and their simple yet highly sophisticated and intelligent agricultural methods, Berry shows that productivity per acre on these traditional, manured farms, even using draft animals largely in place of tractors and other heavy machinery, is on a par with chemical farms. Furthermore, they are sustainable for generations, whereas chemical farms are not. What he doesn’t emphasize, however, is that the number of acres that can be managed per person by the traditional farm is far less than for the chemical farm. But from his perspective this is just as well, since he worries for all the rural people displaced to the cities; many could come back to the agricultural life if government land and agricultural policy were not so tilted against them. He invokes Thomas Jefferson’s idea of the U.S. populace as a multitude of small land freeholders, each with enough land to support a family and some modicum of commercial activity. Berry points out that there are many implicit assumptions in current policy, such as that, given the choice to work or not work, most people would rather not work at all. That education is only possible in schools, and not by experience, that thinking should be done in laboratories and offices, not by farmers themselves. That plants and animals, including humans, are machines, so that machine based agricultural is the most natural and desirable direction.
In short, Berry sees an Amish lifestyle as the closest to a sustainable, community-oriented, organic healthiness for a society. He is imbued of the Judeo-Christian tradition so imputes morality to all our actions and activities, and believes in an absolute good, not moral relativism; absolute good is what produces sustainable, balanced health, in its broadest sense. This is both wonderful and unattainably quixotic. I have always appreciated the Amish for their values; hard, devout work, natural integration into Earth’s ecology, and let one not grow prosperous by one’s work, rather yet more devout.
In much earlier years I had conspired with Spike South along such lines, albeit with not nearly the depth of thought or experience of Berry, that we should seek acreage, perhaps a hundred or so, possibly in the North Carolina or other mid-Atlantic state, and betake ourselves yonder, most likely with wives, to do exactly that. Begin self-sufficiency agriculture and building, creating a sustainable lifestyle, later with children to come. Instead of working out at the gym or jogging, the work itself would be the purposeful exercise for existence.
Through the years, while still in the throes of ‘being a specialist’ (scientist, whatever), this yearning never ceased, while its realization remained impractical, what with the demands of orthodox specialization and family. But lo, after several decades the stars aligned such that it became possible to purchase a modest free holding in a rural area; we acquired thirty eight beautiful acres of Mississippi hardwood hills at a low cost. While un-natural – it is the product of urban wealth earned through specialization, and exported to the country- it is exhilarating. There is every opportunity to experiment with nature, with agriculture, with forestry, with watersheds, with building, with weather, the opportunity to learn and both succeed and fail. For me it is a joy to exert the body, sweat, pant, and groan at these labors, and fall delightfully weary into slumber at night. The artificiality, of course, is that it is all done as a homesteading hobby, yet with an economic anchor in specialty, in the city of New Orleans, so failures don’t lead to ruin.
There are many, many movements and sub-currents throughout the U.S. trying to go against the monoculture, chemical farm. Farm to table, the locavore movement, school garden plots, and the like, all contest the hegemony of General Mills, Wendy’s, factory farms and the like. The locus of arguments against this is that, to sustain seven billion people on the planet the chemical farm is a necessity, and so it is actually selfish to think of re-personalizing agriculture, as billions could starve. Berry’s counter argument is that, no, productivity of sustainable, organic farming is on a par with chemical/heavy machinery farming so this dire outlook is untrue. However, for the organic, sustainable approach to work, a large part of the populace would have to become rural again. In Physics, the principle of least action, of a system falling into the lowest energy state available seems to apply well to humans. To demand that they endothermically trudge back up hill and work their bodies hard to feed themselves is like commanding water to flow upwards. Aint’ gonna happen. But gotta love Berry’s unbridled idealism.

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Martin Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant in 2017July 16, 2017
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In the opening chapter Berry talks about exploiters and nurturers and carries this theme throughout the book comparing "orthodox" and un-orthodox farming methods. He says: "The exploiter wishes to earn as much as possible by as little work as possible; the nurturer expects, certainly, to have a decent living from his work, but his characteristic wish is to work as well as possible." He is talking about the difference between someone in an agribusiness, like an industrial farmer, and, for example, an Amish farmer. Berry offers the background and philosophical underpinnings of the state of agriculture today; this is as relevant in 2017 as it was 40 years ago when it was first published.

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Binyamin Klempner
4.0 out of 5 stars But it just isn't my favorite. In my opinionNovember 15, 2017
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I know that The Unsettling of America is Berry's classic. But it just isn't my favorite. In my opinion, Berry's books "What Are People For?" and "Bringing it to the Table" are easier to read and more enjoyable.

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mothersuds
5.0 out of 5 stars or pretty much any American with a vested interest in this ...March 15, 2017
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Probably the most important book I've read in a long time - even more relevant today than it was when it was written. This book is a must read for anyone concerned about the economy, agriculture, our food system, the environment, or pretty much any American with a vested interest in this nation.

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M. Danielson
5.0 out of 5 stars An important book in spite of its ageJanuary 3, 2019
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Although this book shows its age, it is still a vital read. We continue to drift away from the land and community. Our last, best hope is to break free of both nostalgia and mindless progressiveness and look seriously at what feeds our bodies, minds, and souls.

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G. Long
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone serious about US as a cultural entityJune 26, 2018
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I was absolutely entralled. This is one of my favorite books. A university degree should require this book.

Deeply insightful about why some old fashioned stuff actually matters like topos and relationships and restraint.

At the same time the book comes back to very practical discussion of ag and ed policy and why those have failed us.

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Prescient, disturbing, and inspiringApril 21, 2017
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Still relevant. The growing appreciation for the local farmers has not pernetrated far into the consciousness of policy makers of either party.

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Process Theology by John B. Cobb Jr. | Goodreads

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Process Theology

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John B. Cobb Jr.,
David Ray Griffin
3.83 · Rating details · 152 ratings · 9 reviews
Process Theology is an introductory exposition of the theological movement that has been strongly influenced by the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne. It offers an interpretation of the basic concepts of process philosophy and outlines a "process theology" that will be especially useful for students of theology, teachers of courses in contemporary philosophy, ministers, and those interested in current theological and philosophical trends. (less)

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Paperback, 196 pages
Published March 1st 1996 by Westminster John Knox Press (first published January 1st 1976)
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Jun 25, 2014 Mark rated it it was amazing
This book provides nothing less than a whole new matrix through which to see the world, and new possibilities from which to live and love in the world. And, most importantly, the concept of God as Creative-Responsive Love (not Controlling Power), of the future as truly open (not predetermined by divine fiat), of the Earth as filled with subjects (not objects), and of the self as a community-experience (not an individual agent) will make the reader more gracious, more considerate, and more prone to fulfilling of his or her purpose. (less)
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Nov 23, 2011 E. rated it liked it
I wrote my dissertation on Whitehead and read extensively in process philosophy while in graduate school. I had never read this standard text in process theology.

When, in conversation, people have asked about process theology, I have often said that I'm a process philosopher and not a process theologian, that I haven't read the major works in that school of theology, and that theologically my concerns and major influences have been different -- Yoder, Hauerwas, Cone, Moltmann, McClendon, etc. The metaphysical issues in theology don't interest me that much (though recently they've started coming around again); it is generally the ethical and political issues that have animated me for the last decade or so. I felt like I figured out all the core metaphysical issues back in my 20s.

And that's when I was deep into process stuff, so, yes, I do have a process approach to these theological questions, but one that I didn't work out while reading process theology.

Process philosophy has deeply influenced my approach to ministry, and I feel that pastors ultimately work their theology out in a dialogue between what they are reading and the lived experiences of their congregation. Adventure and journey metaphors, the open future, our role as co-creators, are all central components to my theologically thinking (influences from liberation theology are independent of these).

Cobb & Griffin's book is a nice introduction. A little dated now. And their particular concerns aren't always those of other process thinkers -- they admit as much. Better introductions to Whitehead's thought exist, and I can imagine a better introduction for the lay reader to some key topics in process theology.

One thing that did strike me when reading the book is how process theology became so dominant for a period that pretty much everyone I know thinks in ways influenced by it, even if they are not aware of it. (less)
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Mar 28, 2012 Jim rated it really liked it
This is the first book I've read on the subjects of Process Theology, specifically, and Process Philosophy, more generally - not including, generously, Rev. John Polkinghorne, who does not claim to be a Process Theologian, anyway. I admit I have a long way to go, but this book has certainly sparked my interest to delve deeper. It was not an easy read. I recommend that despite the title this is not for a beginning reader of philosophy and theology. This book does, however, do a very good job at justifying its premise: the concept of a God is justifiable and reasonable, when limited in scope to being the ultimate source of all "creative potentiality." And, most importantly I think, the book touches upon what may be the ultimate hope, which traditional Christianity has barely articulated with any deep understanding until Whitehead: we each have "everlasting" meaning because once we choose to participate in God, we have participated in indelibly imprinting ourselves "forever" upon all of Creation through Him. Or, as Whitehead puts it, “The many become one, and are increased by one.” (less)
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Oct 02, 2018 Daniel Crouch rated it really liked it
Process Theology delivers much of the merit of open theism with all of the pitfalls of Whitehead's philosophy. This book, specifically, is accessible and worth the read if you're interested in this way of thinking.
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Oct 21, 2018 Walt rated it it was amazing
An excellent introduction to this field of theology as it existed in the 1970's. While I'll have to read some more recent works in the area, I felt as if some of the most important points were covered. I felt that concepts of creativity, Christology, peace, and evil were handled particularly well.
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Nov 06, 2013 Larry Branch rated it really liked it
We have a Process Meetup group in DC and we are using this book. Please join us.
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Feb 22, 2010 John Roberson rated it really liked it
A good introduction to Process Theology.
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Apr 24, 2018 Ben Flegal rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: theology, bible-commentaries
Highly philosophical and difficult to read for me as a non-philosophy student. However, it was helpful for me to understand this theological system.

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Process Theology Paperback – March 1, 1996
by John B. Cobb Jr. (Author), David Ray Griffin (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 14 customer reviews

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About the Author

John B. Cobb Jr. has held many positions including Ingraham Professor of Theology at the Claremont School of Theology, Avery Professor at the Claremont Graduate School, Fullbright Professor at the University of Mainz, and Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt, Harvard, and Chicago Divinity Schools. His writings include Christ in a Pluralistic Age: God and the World; and, with coauthor Herman Daly, For the Common Good, which was cowinner of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

David Ray Griffin is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology at Claremont School of Theology, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, and Co-Founder of the Center for Process Studies. He is the author of Two Great Truths: A New Synthesis of Scientific Naturalism and Christian Faith, and coauthor, with John B. Cobb Jr., of Process Theology: An Introductory Exposition. Author of numerous books in philosophy of religion, he has also published two popular books on the World Trade Center attacks: The New Pearl Harbor: Distubing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 and The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions.

Product details

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: The Westminster Press (1976)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0664247431
ISBN-13: 978-0664247430
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars 14 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#168 in Christian Systematic Theology (Books)
#10 in Christian Process Theology

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14 customer reviews
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Steven H Propp
TOP 50 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 stars

TWO PROMINENT THEOLOGIANS EXPLAIN THE PHILOSOPHY OF WHITEHEAD AND HARTSHORNE

February 5, 2014

Retired theologians and philosophers John B. Cobb and David Ray Griffin (who has more recently become well-known for his views on 9/11: e.g., Debunking 9/11 Debunking) wrote in the Foreword to this 1976 book, "This book is an introductory exposition of the theological movement that has been strongly influenced by the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne... Process theology speaks about God. Whitehead and Hartshorne have both used the word 'God' frequently and without embarrassment. However, they have been conscious that what they have meant by the term is philosophically and religiously opposed to much that has been meant by 'God' in metaphysical, theological, and popular notions... In the present book we have, besides explicating some of Whitehead's basic ideas, simply spelled out our own views. For this reason we have not called this 'an introduction to process theology' but 'an introductory exposition.'" (Pg. 7-8, 10)

They point out, "Whitehead's analysis of basic features of reality has religious implications congenial to Christian faith." (Pg. 30) They add, "We have faith in the continued fruitfulness of returning to the first accounts of and reactions to Jesus' life for new insights because of the repeated fruitfulness on this return in the past... The present book is based upon the conviction that a return to Jesus for inspiration is still fruitful." (Pg. 40)

They note, "Process theology sees God's fundamental aim to be the promotion of the creatures' own enjoyment. God's creative influence upon them is loving, because it aims at promoting that which the creatures experience as intrinsically good. Since God is not in complete control, the divine love is not contradicted by the great amount of intrinsic evil, or 'disenjoyment,' in the world. The creatures in part create both themselves and their successors." (Pg. 56)

They assert, "Process theology also says that God is responsible for evil but not indictable for it... it does not deny that there is genuine evil... there are events that would have been better otherwise, all things considered... other events could have occurred then and there that would have been better. This is one of those universal convictions to which any philosophy or theology must be adequate if it is to be acceptable. Process theology distinguishes between divine responsibility and blameworthiness ... [because] the power of God is persuasive, not controlling. Finite actualities can fail to conform to the divine aims for them... evil is not necessary. But the possibility for the deviation is necessary; hence the possibility of evil is necessary." (Pg. 69)

They continue, "God did not bring about creatures such as us ... simply because freedom is in itself a great value, but because beings capable of the values we enjoy must necessarily have these other capacities. The question as to why God did not make sinless robots does not arise. God is partly responsible for what we normally call evil... Had God not led the realm of finitude out of chaos into a cosmos that includes life, nothing worthy of the term 'suffering' would occur... God is responsible for these evils in the sense of having encouraged the world in the direction that made these evils possible... Hence, the question... reduces to the question as to whether the positive values enjoyed by the higher forms of actuality are worth the risk of the negative values, the sufferings. (Pg. 74-75)

They argue, "Process theism... cannot provide the assurance that God's will is always done. It does affirm that, no matter how great the evil in the world, God acts persuasively upon the wreckage to bring from it whatever good is possible...God does not act ex machina to prevent the consequences of destructive human acts. Critics object that a being not able to guarantee a favorable outcome to the process does not have the sort of power that is essential to deity... The future is open and we are free because of god. The power to open the future and give us freedom is a greater power than the supposed power of absolute control, for a power effective over free beings is a far greater power than what would be involved in the manipulation of robots." (Pg. 118-119)

This book---while, under its own terms, is not an "introduction" to process theology, exactly---is nevertheless a very helpful resource for anyone wanting to know more about this complex theology and philosophy.

5 people found this helpful

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docemeritus
5.0 out of 5 stars Very usefulMay 16, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A clear exposition from two of the legends in the field. I assigned it for my Philosophy of Religion class, and they were very enthusiastic. In this area, few students are ever exposed to alternative theological perspectives, and it enabled me to challenge their assumptions about God. The book is extremely challenging for an undergraduate class, so I lectured extensively while they were reading, but the book really made an impression.

4 people found this helpful

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Atlanta Resident
3.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Highly Academic PresentationDecember 8, 2008
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This presentation is good, but highly academic. Example: I am a graduate student pursuing a PhD in psychology, in addition to being a long-time, well-read digester of theology and philosophy, and I had a lot of trouble reading this. Not because the concepts themselves are vacuous or unintelligible, but simply because this is written for serious philosophy students who have quite a background in the language being utilized here. It assumes quite a bit of foreknowledge (no pun intended). If you're desiring your first book on process theology, as I was, this is not the one to buy.

A second and important note about this work is simply that it is old. That factor alone does not reduce value, but in this case, much new and important work has been done in the area of process philosophy and its interpretation since this publication. Another good reason to look elsewhere.

A reader might want to look into a work by theologian Gregory Boyd, who has been a contemporary interpreter of Hartshorne. Boyd's Princeton dissertation on Hartshorne and process in general has been turned into a book (of sorts) called "Trinity and Process" which I am now reading and finding to be a good read. It can found through interlibrary loan or on Amazon.

6 people found this helpful

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Franklin Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars A recommendationAugust 2, 2019
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
The process of ordering was easy. The book came on time and was in the condition as advertised. The text is, of course, a welcome primer bridging process philosophy and theology. Not light reading, accessible.

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Hector Lasala
5.0 out of 5 stars a surge of vitality and clarity and lucidity into our God-talkJune 12, 2007
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Just as the seeds that germinated and bloomed
after being dormant in a desert in Chile for 500 years due to rainfall caused by El Nino,
so is A N Whitehead-initiated Process Theology in these parched time of ours:
a most welcome surge of vitality and clarity and lucidity into our God-talk.

Buy it and read it; then, don't let the slowness of the first couple of chapters stop you.
Next come chapters with some of the best theological writing ever:
God as Creative Responsive Love, A Theology of Nature,
Human Existence, Jesus Christ, Eschatology, and
The Church in Creative Transformation.

3 people found this helpful

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Jerry Griffin
3.0 out of 5 stars For philosophers onlyOctober 28, 2013
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I'm really, really interested in process theology, which is the only reason why I am persisting in reading this book. It is the most densely-written exposition I can imagine; every word counts and every sentence is difficult. I do believe that trained philosophers could understand it; I am struggling. The whole subject must somehow be made more accessible.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsOctober 28, 2017
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Great book

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bob
5.0 out of 5 stars Fine introductionMarch 30, 2010
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This was one of the first comprehensive overview of process theology, grounded in the philosophical/mathematical work of Whitehead. It is still a fine introduction to the field and should be required reading for anyone wishing to follow the development of process thought. This underlies the phenomenon of de-construction as well as the evolutionary vision of the Cosmos and of all of us who are its children. This book avoids the jargon that often masks confusion. It is clear and concise.

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