Nicholas Maxwell

Cutting God in Half - and Putting the Pieces Together Again a New Approach to Philosophy Nicholas Maxwell

Here is a book that will enthral anyone concerned about ultimate questions - the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, the fate of humanity. It is written in a lively, accessible style, and has original things to say about a number of fundamental issues. The author argues that we need to sever the God-of-Power from the God-of-Value. The first is Einstein's God, the underlying unity in the physical universe that determines how events occur. The second is what is of most value associated with human life - and sentient life more generally. Having cut God in half in this way, the problem then becomes to see how the two halves can be put together again. This is our basic problem: to see how our human world, imbued with meaning and value, can exist and flourish embedded in the physical universe. It is our fundamental philosophical problem, our fundamental problem of knowledge and understanding, and our fundamental practical problem of living - personal, social and global. This book tackles outstanding aspects of this problem, and in doing so throws out startlingly original ideas about science, education, religion, evolutionary theory, free will, quantum theory, and how we should go about tackling impending global crises such as population growth and global warming. It transpires that bringing our basic problem into sharp focus has revolutionary implications. Many aspects of our social and cultural world urgently need to be transformed. The book would make an excellent text for an introductory course in philosophy, as well as being of interest to the general reader.