In your time zone: 2023-02-09T19:00:00Z
ZOOM video conference: Launch Meeting - Zoom
Overview
In his The Time It Takes Falling Bodies To Light (New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1981), Thompson introduced the notion of Wissenskunst which he defines there as “the play of knowledge in a world of serious data-processors” (p. 4). This German word literally means “the art of knowing”] in contrast to the German word for “science”, namely *Wissenschaft [lit. “knowing-ship”]. In other words, any structured, ordered, focused, way of exploring some field of study is a “science”. Consequently, the word Wissenschaft avoids the pejorative overtones of the word “science” in English, and his notion of Wissenskunst prefigures in many ways current alternative approaches to subjects such as philosophy, anthropology, cultural studies, that is, the humanities generally.
His subsequent book, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science – the focus of this series of Cafés – is an attempt on his part to concreticize this idea in practice, in the real world, if you will. Although originally written a generation ago, his call for a fundamental change in “the presentation of data and communication of ideas” (p. xx), that is a metanoia or fundamental restructuring of world narrative appears as relevant today as it was then, perhaps even more so.
Imaginary Landscape is a journey of recovery. In true Gebserian fashion [1, 2] (even though he never references Gebser), Thompson encourages us to revisit the emotional and epistemological power of myth in the transition of knowledge. It is, I think, incorrect to characterized mythology as the “science of the Ancients”, for as we saw above, the very word “science” has misleading connotations. Granted, “science” is about the search of knowledge, but it’s approach, method, and, above all, self-imposed reductionistic restraints severely limits the both this search and the sharing of its findings.
Leading by example, Thompson first shows us how we have lost this connection by revealing the inherent power of story in the Rapunzel fairy tale (Chapter 1, “Cosmology Lost”). In the next chapter (“Cosmology Regained”), he employs Lovelock & Margulis’s “Gaia hypotheis” as an example of recapturing precisely that metaphorical power in reestablishing a solid foundation for a non-reductionist understanding of scientific investigation. Chapter 3, then, expands this approach to encompass a variety of intellectual and cognitive domains, such as philosophy, cognitive science, of course, cultural studies, weaving a net of interrelationships which enhances greatly their epistemological value and contributions. Chapter 4 then brings these threads together into Thompson’s own understanding of the history of cultural consciousness, illustrating not so much an evolutionary path as much as making clear the intensive unfoldment at work in human development. True to his “knowledge-artistic” vision, he completes the volume with a cycle of eight poems for his four wayfaring friends.
[1] Gebser, Jean (1986) The Ever-present Origin, Authorized translation by Noel Barstad with Algis Mikunas, Athens, OH, Ohio University Press (originally published 1949/1952).
[2] Cf. the Gebser channel on InfiniteConversations.
Reading / Watching / Listening
Thompson, William Irwin (1989) Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science, New York, St. Martin’s Press.
Related Podcasts:
- Future Fossils (hosted by Michael Garfield) – “Thinking Together at the Edge of History” with William Irwin Thompson - Episodes 42 and 43,
- The Lindisfarne Tapes – William Irwin Thompson: Planetary Culture and a New Image of Humanity
Proposed Reading Schedule
- Feb 09: Acknowledgements, Prologue ←
- Feb 23: Chapter 1
- Mar 09: Chapter 2
- Mar 23: Chapter 3
- Apr 06: Chapter 4
- Apr 20: Epilogue
Seed Questions
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Thompson states that this text is an attempt for him to concreticize his own notion of Wissenskunst. Based only on what has been said about this before and your own reflections, what is your understanding of the idea?
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Thompson also informs us that he’s enlisting the aid of four other wayfarers: Ralph Abraham, James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, and Francisco Varela. Are you familiar with any or all of them? If so, how might you suspect they will contribute to his project?
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Already in 1989, Thompson was acutely aware of how the so-called “hard” sciences were suppressing and diminishing the value of the humanities in academia. In your own estimation, where do we find ourselves today in this ongoing struggle? Is his hoped-for metanoia (p. xx) (still) taking place?
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On p. xviii, he writes: “Part of our process of endarkment is to pose problems that are projections of an inappropriate geometry.” What do you think that statement actually means?
Context, Backstory, and Related topics
On-site
Cosmos Café [2023-01-26] – Deja Vu all over again … or another spin of the wheel?
Other works of related interest
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Brophy, Thomas G. (2002) The Origin Map: Discovery of a Prehistoric, Megalithic, Astrophysical Map and Sculpture of the Universe, New York, Writer’s Club Press.
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de Santillana, Giorgio & Hertha von Dechend (1983) Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time, 2nd paperback edition, Boston, MA, David R. Godine (originally published 1969).
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Martineau, John (2001) A Little Book of Coincidence in the Solar System, New York, Bloomsbury.
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White, Gordon (2016) Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits, London, Scarlet Imprint.
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Witzel, E.J. Michael (2012) Origins of the World’s Mythologies, New York, Oxford University Press.
Proposed Agenda
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Welcomes and greetings
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Organizational: short chat about how we want to run the individual sessions
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Possible “lab sections”: suggestions on how to best incorporate these
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Engagement of the reading for this get-together
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Wrap-up and hand-off to next session
