Divination

The third in a series of books arising from conferences that the University of Kent, in this case Divination and Dialogue. The volume pushes the boundaries of academic research by bringing in a very different way of knowing to that normally practised in universities. The editor quotes Whitehead as saying that philosophy destroys its usefulness when it indulges in brilliant feats of explaining away. This could be applied to many aspects of consciousness studies and experiences that are in principle inexplicable on the materialistic basis. Anthropology provides a wider understanding as does the work on perspectivism by Merleau-Ponty and participatory reality by Levy-Bruhl, William James and others. All this points to a wider understanding of epistemology explored in this book, making it very clear that we need to extend our ideas and remember that our very concepts of nature are cultural constructs and not Nature per se, which is easy to forget. The discussion is conducted at a high level and repays careful study - anyone interested in divination will find their understanding considerably enriched.