The final conclave

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David Seamon, Arthur Zajonc

Though best known for his superlative poetry and plays, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) also produced a sizable body of scientific work that focused on such diverse topics as plants, color, clouds, weather, and geology. Goethe's way of science is highly unusual because it seeks to draw together the intuitive awareness of art with the rigorous observation and thinking of science. Written by major scholars and practitioners of Goethean science today, this book considers the philosophical foundations of Goethe's approach and applies the method to the real world of nature, including studies of plants, animals, and the movement of water. Part I discusses the philosophical foundations of the approach and clarifies its epistemology and methodology, Part II applies the method to the real world of nature, and Part III examines the future of Goethean science and emphasizes its great value for better understanding and caring for the natural environment.

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Rob Warner

"Secularization and Its Discontents provides an illuminating overview of major current debates in the sociology of religion, exploring changing patterns of religious practice in the West during the past 150 years. Examining classical secularization theory as well as modified versions that allow for difference between national and social contexts, Rob Warner also explores the proposed post-secularization paradigm, as well as its close offshoot, rational choice theory. Possibilities for a spiritual revolution and the feminisation of religion are scrutinised, and also theories of the durability of conservative religion. The author goes on to develop a new interpretation of resilient religion from an analysis of 21st century trends in religious participation. These are categorised as entrepreneurial and experiential-therapeutic, before the volume finally focuses upon individual identity construction through autonomous religious consumption. This book provides a clear and penetrating overview of theoretical frameworks and develops a new theoretical synthesis derived from fresh examination of empirical data, and will be of interest to academics and students in religious studies, practical theology and the sociology of religion."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Stjepan G. Meštrović

"As the present century and millennium approach their close, many dramatic endgames have been conceptualized by celebrated intellectuals; for example: the "end of history" (Fukuyama); the "end of culture" (Baudrillard); the "end of communism" (Brzezinski) - the last just in time for the events of 1989. The "end of sociology" might even be proposed by those who deem the field of no practical relevance to contemporary social problems. Mestrovic here cuts against the grain of this nihilistic discourse, by arguing that postmodernism itself is an aspect of culture."--BOOK JACKET. "In setting out to find cultural roots for the many phenomena taken up by postmodernists, he connects the present turmoil with strikingly similar debates at the end of the last century, debates concerning the future of capitalism, communism, feminism, and sociology, among other matters. With ambitious sweep, he relates the work of Emile Durkheim and other earlier figures (such as Henry Adams, Veblen, Jung, Adorno) to contemporary postmodernist discourse. His new book points to an opportunity for sociology to revivify itself by taking the cultural approach of its founders seriously."--BOOK JACKET.

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John L. Allen

A guide to the past, present, and future of the Catholic Church looks at the internal and external challenges the institution faces and how it can make itself relevant and improve its moral standing in light of recent crises.