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The Phenomenon of Man (Harper Perennial Modern Thought) Paperback – November 4, 2008

by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Author), Julian Huxley (Introduction)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 315 ratings
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Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, one of the most distinguished thinkers and scientists of our time, fits into no familiar category for he was at once a biologist and a paleontologist of world renown and also a Jesuit priest.

He applied his whole life, his tremendous intellect, and his great spiritual faith to building a philosophy that would reconcile Christian theology with the scientific theory of evolution, to relate the facts of religious experience to those of natural science. The Phenomenon of Man is Pierre Teilhard's most important book and contains the quintessence of his thought.

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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper Perennial Modern Classics
  4. Publication date
    November 4, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.72 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0061632651
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0061632655
  8. See all details
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About the Author

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was born in France and ordained a Jesuit priest. Trained as a paleontologist, Teilhard codiscovered the celebrated Peking Man fossils. The Phenomenon of Man is his best-known work.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial Modern Classics; 1st edition (November 4, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061632651
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061632655
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.72 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 315 ratings

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Teilhard De Chardin

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Top reviews from the United States

Kamla Kapur
5.0 out of 5 stars FULLER BEING IS CLOSER UNION
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2012
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BY KAMLA K KAPUR
#1. FULLER BEING IS CLOSER UNION
I begin my reading blog with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's THE PHENOMENON OF MAN. I can do no better. The New York Times called it "A profound book . . . A great work by a great man - one of the most spiritually erudite of our time." The book was also voted the `best spiritual book of the twentieth century' by the Best Spiritual Writing Series Poll.
I am not one to go by reviews or polls. For me the test is in the pudding. As soon as I picked up the book last night and read the phrase in the title of this entry, which occurs a few sentences into the Foreword, I knew this was the book I would spend reading and re-reading for the next few months, and keep it in my library to review over the years. It also constellated for me, after many months of mulling over my blog and not quite knowing what it would be on, the vision of this blog. When a book does that, you know it is central to your being. I hope it will become central to yours.
What sort of book does that? I will use de Chardin's own words to clarify that, since I cannot say it any better. The title of his Foreword (and I have only read this so far), is SEEING. The books that become central to your being are books that help you SEE.
Let me tell you what he means by `Seeing': He says, `the whole of life lies in that verb.' `To see or to perish is the very condition laid upon everything that makes up the universe, by reason of the mysterious gift of existence. And this, in superior measure, is man's condition.'
Seeing leads to `fuller being,' which leads to `closer union.' `Union increases only through an increase in consciousness, that is to say, in vision.' So, by `seeing' he means, `vision.'
What sort of vision? To answer this question I have to backtrack and tell you a little about de Chardin (and I know very little about him, except for what I learned from his brief biography at the beginning of the book. I mean to research him and share more of it as time goes by): he was a Jesuit Priest, a naturalist, paleontologist who co-discovered the fossils of the famous `Peking Man.' Essentially, a scientist. He says that when scientists `reach the end of their analyses they cannot tell with any certainty whether the structure they have reached is the essence of the matter they are studying, or the reflection of their own thought.'
Man, he continues, `finds his own image stamped on all he looks at.' This, he says, is `a form of bondage . . . for the observer is . . . obliged to carry with him everywhere the center of the landscape he is crossing.'
The following, and I quote fully from him, is the definition both of Vision and the Union he speaks about.
"But what happens when chance directs his steps to a point of vantage from which, not only his vision, but things themselves, radiate? In that event the subjective viewpoint coincides with the way things are distributed objectively, and perception reaches its apogee. The landscape lights up and yields its secrets. He sees."
A good book, then, is one that facilitates such seeing in which objective and subjective is married. This is only one, though a supreme, of the gifts of reading.
More of THE PHENOMENON OF MAN follows in the days to come. My hope is you will buy the book and read it for yourself.
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Aran Joseph Canes
5.0 out of 5 stars The Phenomenon of Teilhard de Chardin
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2019
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The Phenomena of Man starts with Chardin stating that he wants the reader to correctly see the evolution of the universe. Of course, the scientific understanding of cosmogony, geology and paleo-anthropology have increased since the mid twentieth century and parts of Chardin’s magnum opus are now dated. However, the essence of his vision remains unspoiled, if still controversial.

Chardin posits the theory of pan-psychism. Consciousness in human beings is explained not as an epiphenomenon but as the acme of a consciousness found in every atom, molecule and cell. Although counterintuitive, pan-psychism does continue to have adherents within the scientific community. This move allows Chardin to describe evolution, not as the random succession of adaptive forms, but as a progression to higher and higher levels of consciousness.

Thus, the human being is the goal of both the earth’s and the universe’s genesis. We are matter awakening to itself. Thus, the noosphere, the collective creation of human thought, is just as real and important as the atmosphere or biosphere. This noosphere is evolving towards a collective “Omega Point” of maximum consciousness and love.

If all of this seems a little far-fetched, it’s partly because it is and partly because Chardin is a consummate artist in describing his vision. What seems at first blush absurd becomes more and more plausible, at least partially, as the book continues.

It is probably the most articulate alternative to the standard materialist/nihilist version of evolution proffered by biologists such as Richard Dawkins. Although, to be fair to Dawkins, his idea of memes evolving amongst humanity also grants to the world of thought a reality and importance beyond mere biological evolution. In some ways, materialist and humanist interpretations of cosmogony and biological evaluation seem like two different interpretations of the same reality.

Of course, Chardin’s account of all matter having some degree of consciousness, moreover even some degree of love, is highly questionable. And, at least in my reading, the account of man as apex of creation hinges upon this assumption.

But, as with any highly creative and synthetic work, it is well worth reading even if certain particulars seem ill founded. Highly recommended.
21 people found this helpful
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Stephen DeGray
5.0 out of 5 stars Puts things in perspective
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2023
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I reread this book after some years, and found it more interesting and understandable the second time. Takes awhile to read, having to look up so many words. In any event, it was first published in 1955. Now I’m seeing reviews of books by Charles Thaxton published decades later having very similar, to me, evidence, lines of reasoning and conclusions. Both sound right.
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Tracy
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent quality
Reviewed in Canada on June 27, 2021
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Wonderful book. Brand new condition and simple, fast transaction
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Antonin Tuynman
5.0 out of 5 stars The Unifying Evolutionary Drive of Consciousness
Reviewed in Germany on September 26, 2017
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"The Phenomenon of Man" by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is an extraordinary visionary book. Written in 1938, it predicted the advent of a so-called Noosphere, a layer of knowledge covering and connecting our planet, which has found a physical expression in the form of today's internet.

The book is mostly about paleontology, how life arose from abiotic material and how life evolved to generate man, who in its turn will lead to a convergence of evolution in what Teilhard de Chardin called the Omega point. This unique vision showing how the one became many and the many will become one again finds a strong resonance in the present day hype of the coming Technological Singularity.

But the book is not merely an accurate overview of the phenomenological aspects of evolution by a paleontologist; Teilhard de Chardin transcends the scientific method in giving a rightful place to the "within" of forms of being. This within is "consciousness" and if life was able to perfect itself to progress from mere physical interactions to sensations and culminating in knowledge of self and environment then this is because there was a conscious awareness associated with it, from the smallest forms of existence onwards.

Teilhard de Chardin therefore a priori seems a panpsychist or rather a pantheist, who pinpoints exactly the sole essence which really counts. But he does not stop there: Evolution has a direction, namely the direction of concentrating consciousness in form, striving towards an apotheosis of knowledge, which gradually is attained by the formation of the noosphere and which will culminate in the theogenesis of the Omega point. But this Omega point is not a simple merger of the drop with the ocean as in Hinduism, which advocates the dissolution of the (false) ego. Rather, the Omega point is the essence of "personalisation" in which the true ego of each living human reaches its pinnacle.

Written in days when totalitarian systems were usurping the power in the world, Teilhard de Chardin recognises that although there is a fundamental and crucial drive in the unifying purpose of such systems, their execution thereof is wrong by the very denial of the rights of the individual. Unification needs to be all-inclusive and lead to an expression of the best anyone can be. From a profound humanitarian point-of-view and not as a matter of exclusion of the weaker, Teilhard de Chardin even anticipates the necessity of eugenics to avoid degeneration of the physical aspects of the species in a world of abundance.

The strange thing is that Teilhard de Chardin was a Catholic Priest and his pantheistic and evolutionary ideas do not only prima facie seem to be contradictory to his religion but were de facto strongly condemned by his Church. Interestingly, Teilhard de Chardin sought to unify these opposing views by stating that the Omega point is not necessarily a future construct, but in fact in a sense is already there as the "Great Presence". He is able to justify his ideas as "Christian" as he reveals a proper unifying drive in all that is, an expression of intelligence and love seeking connection from the smallest particle to the highest creature. Thus his Pantheism is more a Panentheism in which God has both an immanent and transcendent aspect.

This is a book that even today has not lost a grain of its importance but rather is of ever increasing relevance in the light of the rapidly approaching Singularity.

A must read for every contemporary and future oriented philosopher!
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margrit eleonore haid
1.0 out of 5 stars I downloaded the Kindle version and it is not readable!!
Reviewed in Germany on January 8, 2023
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I downloaded the Kindle version and it is not readable!! It shows the same errors in printing as in “Look into the book”. What a pity!
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Gerrit Bilkes
5.0 out of 5 stars The phenomenon of man
Reviewed in Canada on September 8, 2020
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The scientist who wrote this book was highly impressed with the emergence of multi-gifted human beings on this Earth.
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Greg Mac Intyre
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 25, 2018
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Great read!
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