Kingsley's reading of early Greek philosophy and, in particular, of Parmenides and Empedocles, is at odds with most of the established interpretations. A significant implication of this reading is that western logic and science originally had a deeply spiritual purpose. Kingsley reads the poems of Parmenides and Empedocles as esoteric, initiatory texts designed to lead the reader to a direct experience of the oneness of reality and the realisation of his or her own divinity.
Empedocles, who outlined an elaborate cosmology that introduced the enormously influential idea of the four elements into western philosophy and science, was a mystic and a magician. Parmenides, most famous as the “father of western logic” and traditionally viewed as a rationalist, was a priest of Apollo and iatromantis (lit. The texts produced by this tradition are seamless fabrics of what later thought would distinguish as the separate areas of mysticism, science, healing, and art. Yet, as Kingsley stresses, this was no "otherworldly" mysticism: its chief figures were also lawgivers, diplomats, physicians, and even military men. This tradition, according to Kingsley, was a way of life leading to the direct experience of reality and the recognition of one's divinity.
Kingsley's work argues that the writings of the presocratic philosophers Parmenides and Empedocles, usually seen as rational or scientific enterprises, were in fact expressions of a wider Greek mystical tradition that helped give rise to western philosophy and civilisation. However, Kingsley himself has stated that he is, and always has been, a mystic, and that his spiritual experience stands in the background of his entire career, not just his most recent work. Kingsley has noted in public interviews that he is sometimes misunderstood as a scholar who gradually moved away from academic objectivity to a personal involvement with his subject matter. A former Fellow of the Warburg Institute in London, Kingsley has been made an honorary professor both at Simon Fraser University in Canada and at the University of New Mexico. He graduated with honours from the University of Lancaster in 1975, and went on to receive the degree of Master of Letters from the University of Cambridge after study at King's College subsequently, he was awarded a PhD by the University of London. Peter Kingsley attended Highgate School, in north London, until 1971. He has written extensively on the pre-Socratic philosophers Parmenides and Empedocles and the world they lived in. Peter Kingsley (born 1953) is the author of six books and numerous articles on ancient philosophy, including Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic In the Dark Places of Wisdom Reality A Story Waiting to Pierce You: Mongolia, Tibet and the Destiny of the Western World Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity and A Book of Life. For the 24 character, see List of 24 characters § Peter Kingsley Group.
0 kommentar(er)
