Richard Tarnas

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Richard Tarnas (born February 21, 1950), author of The Passion of the Western Mind (1991) and Cosmos and Psyche (2006), is a cultural historian and professor of philosophy and psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and founding director of its graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness.

1 Biography
2 Ideas
3 Bibliography
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Tarnas was born on February 21, 1950 in Geneva, Switzerland, of American parents. His father, also Richard Tarnas, was a government contract attorney, former president of the Michigan Federal Bar Association, and Professor of Law. His mother, Mary Lou, was a teacher and homemaker. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where he studied at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. In 1968 he entered Harvard, graduating with an A.B. cum laude in 1972. For ten years he lived and worked at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, studying with Joseph Campbell, Gregory Bateson, Huston Smith, and Stanislav Grof, and later served as director of programs and education. He received his Ph. D. from Saybrook Institute in 1976. From 1980 to 1990, he wrote The Passion of the Western Mind, a narrative history of Western thought which became a bestseller and continues to be a widely-used text in universities throughout the world.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Ideas

Tarnas is known for his integrative work in epistemology and cosmology. His first book, The Passion of the Western Mind, provides an interdisciplinary framework for "understanding the ideas that have shaped our world view", which he describes as “a new perspective for understanding our culture’s intellectual and spiritual history . . . focusing on the crucial sphere of interaction between philosophy, religion, and science”, as well as his key concept of Participatory Epistemology, later discussed in relation to Transpersonal psychology by Jorge Ferrer, Christopher Bache, and others. It has been suggested that Tarnas' work is an important contribution to the movements sometimes called Integral thought or Integral theory.^{[citation needed]}

His second book, Cosmos and Psyche, challenges basic assumptions of the modern world view, postulating the existence of a consistent correspondence between planetary movements (specifically the astrological aspects) and archetypal patterns of human experience, also called astrology.

This volume examines such famous epochs of cultural rebellion as the 1960s and the French Revolution (both characterized by axial alignments of Uranus and Pluto), as well as periods of historical crisis such as the world wars, the Great Awakening, American Revolution, the Romantic Era, the Age of Enlightenment, and September 11th. Cosmos and Psyche also explores comparable patterns and planetary correlations in the lives of many individuals, . The book suggests a new possibility for reuniting religion and science, soul and intellect, ancient wisdom, and modern reason in the quest to understand the past and create the future.

[edit] Bibliography

The Passion of the Western Mind, 1991; Ballantine
Prometheus the Awakener, 1995; Spring
Foreword to Revisioning Transpersonal Theory by Jorge Ferrer, 2002; SUNY
Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, 2006; Viking (ISBN 0-670-03292-1)