Florence and the Inspiration of the FuturePROGRAM, Day 4: Friday, 22 June, 2001
Morning: Ralph AbrahamThe False Face of Modern Science: Searching for the Key to the ProblemCritique of the European Sciences, after Husserl and Voegelin. Implications for the world. The Earth as a living organism--Gaia--and the challenge of the Green movement. The Chaos Revolution in Mathematics and its challenge to the foundations of modern science. Concepts of the mathematical theories of chaos and bifurcation. Today's post-modern bifurcation and its similarity to the intellectual environment of the Renaissance. Afternoon: Giannozzo PucciThe Madonna of Mercy and Ethics of CraftmanshipThe symbiosis between humanity and nature as the liberating force of the Renaissance. The inadequacy of scientific thought and the adequacy of Aquino's ethical architecture in attaining this symbiosis. The Luddite visionary denunciation of Industrialism, and today's environmental struggle against bio-genetics and globalization. Revised 22 March 2001 by Ralph |