The Phenomenon of Man

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a Jesuit priest and a paleontologist at a time in history when our greatest minds here in the West were making quantum leaps in our understanding of the ultimate nature of reality and our place in it. Divine revelations and mystical insights were at an apex. Teilhard had several mystical experiences during his lifetime. He is considered by some to have been one of the four greatest thinkers in the Western Christian tradition. The others being St. Paul, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas. His counterpart in the East was Sri Aurobindo. Sychronistically, or perhaps by chance, Aurobindo was given a classical education in England as a youth and then returned to India in 1893. There Aurobindo's thinking evolved from Advaita to neo-Advaita. The primary difference being the evolution in understanding from pure monism to holistic synergetics, a move from the rational to the transrational. Reality is not numerically one, it is a unitive one, whole. Both great men came to the same basic conclusion separately at about the same time. That conclusion being that the unfolding of the Universe is both a physical and a spiritual evolution. Though Teilhard thought of himself in pantheistic terms, I believe he would be better described as a "Pan'en'theist". Panentheism according to Charles Hartshorne is the belief that God is greater than the sum of God's parts. For the Pantheist Nature is God. For the Panentheist Nature is a part of God. The former is a monotheistic thus solipsistic view, the latter a manifold thus synergetic opinion. In the former God is playing Solitaire, hence the existential dread and nihilistic moroseness of Continental Philosophy. Rationality is a tool of awareness, not the be all to end all of understanding. In the latter God is playing a game of Hearts we all can play. God is more than one but less than two, a transrational whole number. With God all things are possible. Henri Bergson with his book "Creative Evolution" also had a profound impact on Teilhard. Bergson provided Teilhard a theoretical basis for his feeling of intimacy with nature. Bergson saw a "force" at work behind the processes of evolution. From this Teilhard would come to an understanding that would reconcile his religion with his science. He chose to see the "Book of Genesis" from a metaphorical rather than a literal perspective. From Charles Darwin Teilhard would take "time" and apply it to his understanding of natural processes. Before Darwin's theory of evolution entered the literature Western Science was working under the constraint of a time frame of only a few thousand years from the moment of Creation. After Darwin "time" became nearly infinite, beyond rational understanding. How long is a million years, let alone a billion years? A lot can happen when time expands exponentially. Given enough time it is reasonable to believe that a monkey might evolve into a man. Especially if that metamorphosis was a part of a master plan, pa

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1945) was a Jesuit Priest, theologian, philosopher, and paleontologist who expanded on the concept of the noosphere originated by the Russian mineralogist and geochemist, Vladimir I. Vernadsky (1863-1945) who also originated the concept of the biosphere- the "life zone" where all biological life exists between the crust of the earth to the lower atmosphere or the "life envelope" surrounding our planet. The "noosphere" or "thinking layer", according to Chardin, comes about at that point in time when humans evolve to the realization of a global human consciousness and is totally aware of itself and then headed for the ultimate destination- the "Omega Point" or "Kingdom of God". At this point, the earth is enveloped by a collective human consciousness. Chardin uses both science and theology to support this theory and his dissertation on this is fascinating and thought provoking. Unlike most of his religious peers, he was a proponent of directional evolution and that Darwin had hit upon the proof of God's intent, that final destination of the human conscious evolution where the Creator is realized. Darwin, of course, preferred to distance himself from theological assumptions of species evolution, especially so with us humans and his religious wife. Chardin distinguishes humans from all other life-forms because of our abilities to contemplate our existence, hence, the uniqueness of or the "phenomenon of man". Hopefully, he concludes, that the human family will evolve to be totally conscience, intelligent and loving, cooperative, and rising far above our current chaotic existence. Amen to that lofty, but desirable goal! The evolutionary path of the noosphere is laid out in Chardin's earth evolution and stated as: "We have been following the successive stages of the same grand progression from the fluid contours of the early earth. Beneath the pulsations of geo-chemistry, of geo-tectonic and of geo-biology, we have detected one and the same fundamental process, always recognizable-the one which was given material form in the first cells and was continued in the construction of nervous systems. We saw geogenesis promoted to biogenesis, which turned out in the end to be nothing less psychogenesis." (p 181). And leading therefore, to "noosgenesis" or global consciousness. Finally, and due to the interconnectedness and seemingly intentional direction of life on earth, Chardin gives Earth a soul: Gaia thinking- Earth "intentionally" supports life. No wonder then that Chardin is referenced and quoted in a mountain of science and religious works. His theories have influenced such great thinkers as: Lewis Thomas ("The Lives of a Cell"), Buckminster Fuller ("The Dymaxion Map"), the Gaia Theory- Earth as a conscious, intentional, self-regulating life-support system and expounded upon by Guy Murchie ("The Seven Mysteries of Life") and later by James Lovelock (Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine"), Thomas Ber

I am not going to argue points as the author can do that for him self. I will say, many people surpassingly arrive at the same conclusions independently of this work. The few negative reviews are because of a disagreements not that this book is negative in any way. Even with all of today's scientific discoveries the truth in his extrapolations still hold up. However, I would listen to Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History [UNABRIDGED]. Just put the number in the search engine and press "GO!" before reading Book 2, chapter 2, section 3 "THE TREE OF LIFE". This is a five star book no matter what side of the argument you are on. Listen to Teilhard de Chardin's words coming from Oskar Werner as Fr. David Telemond in "Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)" Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History Shoes of the Fisherman [VHS]

Simply astounding. These are about the only words that I think best describe The Phenomenon of Man. Certainly, this has to be one of the most wildly interesting books that I have ever read. Most of us know and at least vaguely understand evolution, and also theists usually respond defensively that there is no conflict between God and evolution. But rare is the person who seeks to intergrate evolution into God's large-scale, dynamic plan refusing even just to argue for some "Design" in the universe. Teilhard argues that with the onset of animals capable of internal reflection, human beings, evolution takes a turn "inward". The consciousnesss is now what evolves, evolving toward an Omega Point with Teilhard sees as Christ. Certainly in our lives we can see the appeal of this view. Shouldn't our lives be a constant growth, an evolution toward complete oneness with God? Teilhard is a genius and the best modern example of the intellectual firepower that can come from the Catholic Church and the Jesuits in particular. Although he and the Church didn't always get along (most of his stuff was censored in some way) I think this is due to the fact that Teilhard was so far ahead of his time that the hierarchy really didn't know what to do with him. Surely, 50 or even 20 years from now Teilhard de Chardin will be regarded as one of the most prolific Catholic minds in the last few centuries.

Teilhard has been maligned in scientific circles for many decades and you still hear complaints about his work by people ignorant of or hostile to his message. But make no mistake about it, this book is a breathtakingly accurate and honest description of physical reality. Teilhard uses Bergsonian intuition and Catholic metaphysics to spring us from the trap set by Horgan in The End of Science. Further progress in science will proceed along the trajectories identified by Teilhard. As recent books such as Garden of Ediacara and Nonzero begin to grasp the implications of Teilhard's conclusions, it becomes increasingly clear that Teilhard set the course for both spiritual and scientific renewal. His scientific insights cannot be divorced from their spiritual and religious context. Teilhard should be praised rather than criticized for this because it shows us that the notion of 'pure science' is pure fallacy. Simon Conway Morris articulated this in his review of Nonzero: "to imagine that human destiny is entirely mundane may be one of the most peculiar errors of the moderns."