In this 8-week course, John will draw on theology, cognitive science and philosophy to argue for a non-theistic stance toward the Sacred.
If you find yourself torn between rationality and spirituality, science and mysticism, facts and belief; The Lectern's inaugural 8-week course will offer you a new lens through which to reflect on these dilemmas.
Course Curriculum
Einstein's Philosophy of Science
John introduces non-duality and Einstein's attitude toward science that birthed his philosophy of doing science. This exposed Anomalies in the Enlightenment's worldview.
Anomalies of the Enlightenment
John details the anomalies of the current scientific world view and how it calls for a paradigm shift. Through a historical lens, John frames the quest that Einstein was on through physics.
Einstein's Quest
John opens up Einstein's methods of inquiry, ultimately revealing a different relationship to reality, truth and the Sacred. Introducing a Neoplatonic framework, John begins to reveal the Spiritual Significance of Einstein.
The Spiritual Significance of Einstein
Through 4E Cognitive Science, John demonstrates how modern discoveries can be integrated with legacy religions. This allows us to relook at how the Enlightenment worldview came to be.
The Birth of the Enlightenment Ontology
Moving to Spinoza, John lays out the history of our current scientific worldview from Aristotle to Descartes. Then he introduces how Spinoza and the worldview he proposed defies categorization through how Spinoza incidentally did science.
Spinoza's Science
John expands on Spinoza's ways of knowing: Imagination, Reason and Scientia Intuitiva, connecting it with 4E Cognitive Science. This opens the space for an exploration of Spinoza's Religion and metaphysics.
Spinoza's Religion
Through Carlisle's seminal work, Spinoza's Religion, John uncovers how Spinoza's Ethics were written, how they are designed to be read and how philosophy is a spiritual exercise.
Spinoza's God
John concludes with how Spinoza's notion of "blessedness" resonates with Jesus, Agape and Religio as an answer to the Meaning Crisis.