2002 Perennial-edition reprint of the The Phenomenon of Man, with an introduction by Julian Huxley. [1]
In famous publications, The Phenomenon of Man or Le Phenomene Humain, is a 1938 book by French philosopher-theologian Pierre Teilhard that attempts to synthesize a view that integrates the anthropocentric concepts of consciousness, spirit, and purpose, with evolution, chemistry, and physics, and in particular the second law of thermodynamics. It is one of the first books to utilize a “human molecule” perspective, in great detail. The centerpiece of the book is the omega point theory, which argues that humanity is evolving towards a type of global or universal united consciousness. [1]
The book was written in a series of personal articles by Teilhard said to date predominately to the year 1938, but rejected for publication by the Church, and only published post-humorously in 1955 as Le Phenomene Humain, and translated in English in 1959, with a revised English translation in 1965.
Influence In modern times, The Phenomenon of Mant has a near-cult following, as it is the representative archetype crossover book to those who would wish to integrate materialism view, with the mind-body dualism view, with new age types of spiritualism view, to yield a ‘spiritual materialism’ view of evolution. An example of this is American philosopher Christian de Quincey's 2002 Radical Nature, who states that he was 'awestruck' the first time he came across The Phenomenon of Man, and his updated view that consciousness extends all the way down the evolutionary ladder. [2]
References 1. Teilhard, Pierre. (1938). The Phenomenon of Man. Perennial. 2. De Quincey, Christian. (2002). Radical Nature: Rediscovering the Soul of Matter (pg. xiv). Invisible Cities Press.
