The Mystical Experience of Evolution: Alfred Russel Wallace, Ernst Haeckel, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
Evolution is frequently regarded as evidence of an atheistic–mechanistic worldview. Still, it implies that life, and thus also consciousness and knowledge, is a developmental phenomenon and inherently unfinished. Here, we define this condition as the mystical dimension of evolution and apply it to e...
| Publicado en: | Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 446 - 468 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Open Library of Humanities
Jun2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195317170&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195317170 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 05912385 ZYG jtl: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science issn: 05912385 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 61 iid: 2 pid: 15576 pub: Open Library of Humanities artinfo: ui: 195317170 10.16995/zygon.24191 ppf: 446 ppct: 22 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 706KB tig: atl: The Mystical Experience of Evolution: Alfred Russel Wallace, Ernst Haeckel, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. aug: au: Lindholm, Markus Gray, Erika Lynn Eftestøl, Torbjørn Sparby, Terje affil: Professor, Rudolf Steiner University College, Oslo, Norway Student, Rudolf Steiner University College, Oslo, Norway Associate Professor, Rudolf Steiner University College, Oslo, Norway su: Mysticism Metaphysics Human evolution Deep ecology Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913 Consciousness Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August, 1834-1919 Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, 1881-1955 sug: subj: Mysticism Metaphysics Human evolution Deep ecology Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913 Consciousness Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August, 1834-1919 Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, 1881-1955 ab: Evolution is frequently regarded as evidence of an atheistic–mechanistic worldview. Still, it implies that life, and thus also consciousness and knowledge, is a developmental phenomenon and inherently unfinished. Here, we define this condition as the mystical dimension of evolution and apply it to examine how three early evolutionary thinkers came to advocate a metaphysical view of evolution. Alfred Russel Wallace outlined an evolutionary cosmology centered on the emergence of human self-awareness. Ernst Haeckel advanced a monistic view of evolution in which matter and spirit are two sides of the same coin, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin regarded consciousness as the unifying trajectory of an evolutionary process that encompasses the entire universe. The article then compares the mystical–evolutionary perspectives to contemporary evolutionary thought. Particular attention is given to the question of reality's inner aspect, the origin of consciousness, and the discussions surrounding the anthropic principle. We then address possible implications of evolutionary mysticism for deep ecology and environmentalism. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science is the property of Open Library of Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science holder: Open Library of Humanities dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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