tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9160593.post110132423131189952..comments2023-09-29T05:50:20.604-04:00Comments on John the Mad: Intellectual Bigotry John the Madhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17899858119936750764noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9160593.post-1101335867551814062004-11-24T17:37:00.000-05:002004-11-24T17:37:00.000-05:00Leszek Kolakowski, the noted Polish philosopher, h...Leszek Kolakowski, the noted Polish philosopher, has suggested that one of the reasons that western christian civilization has fostered the rapid technological growth of the past 4 or 5 centuries is religious. In short his view is that the christian attitude toward nature is characterized by a very productive tension. On the one hand, the material world is not ultimately the true world - there is the promise of a redeemed life beyond - which to some degree sanctions an instrumental attitude toward nature. On the other hand, unlike some other religions, it does not maintain that the material world is an illusion. It is God's creation and it is good. This, in Kolakowski's view, supports efforts to understand nature and this in turn requires manipulation of nature. <br />This says nothing about environmentalism, but it does suggest that there is something intelligent (and non-bigoted) that can be said about different religious attitudes toward the manipulation of nature and by extension technological society.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com