Unfinished animal: The aquarian frontier and the evolution of consciousness

by Theodore Roszak

Unfinished The aquarian frontier and the evolution of consciousness [hardcover] Roszak, Theodore [Jan 01, 1975]

Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Theodore Roszak was Professor Emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay. He is best known for his 1969 text, The Making of a Counter Culture.

Roszak first came to public prominence in 1969, with the publication of his The Making of a Counter Culture[5] which chronicled and gave explanation to the European and North American counterculture of the 1960s. He is generally credited with the first use of the term "counterculture".

Reviews

[boocia]

weird one! laudable ideas i think, but also sloppy academic-ing.

(i did read the first half of this book while getting a sixhour tattoo and the second half while increasingly drunk/hungover tho so who can say really what happened here)

laudable ideas -- i think roczak is saying something i agree with or at least find really interesting, which is about societal ideals and forms of knowledge outside of 'reason' or 'learning' as enlightenment rationalism knows it; and about the value in engaging with 'communing with nature' or 'feeling a sense of connectedness with all humankind' or whatever on a /spiritual/ level. as i get older i think i agree with this fundamental take; that there has to be an i guess affective? relation with community and the world that actually drives people, paired with other 'reasonable' motivations.

i think he does some aggressive takedowns of 'secular humanism' that i'm not sure i totally follow; his critique of secular humanism being devoid of spirituality honestly kinda rings hollow to me; but i do think maybe he has a diff understanding of it than i do. i guess 'secular' does mean ... non-religious, but i associate the movement with the idea that mankind is sort of full of potential and destined to do great things or whatever and should be one big community and are full of innate good, which feels 'spiritual' in the way that roczak describes it to me. though i do think he's doing impressive and important work in divorcing societal 'progress' - esp. like centristy technocratic progress - from a more spiritual 'ascent', a personal and individuated transformation of the soul, i guess. and i guess secular humanism is more about the former than the latter.

i'm not sure i believe it, but i liked his push to make me think about if there's some 'universal' human potential or destiny ... it kinda reminded me of how Kropotkin in Mutual Aid just firmly believes ppl innately are helpful to each other. just this firm belief in some shared goodwilled humanity. i guess i do believe in that, and maybe i do believe in a universal kernel about having an awe for and will to be related to nature too, so ... maybe? idk. fun to think about that.

sloppy academic-ing; the man appears to have a firm grasp of hinduism, buddhism, and yoga; but also just kinda makes sweeping claims about "primitive cultures and Eastern cultures" or "ancient cultures and tribal cultures and Eastern cultures" without really addressing their nuances or details. this kinda drove me bonkers. i also in general just feel like he was v much contextualizing these eastern belief systems within a Western context, for their ability to perhaps inspire or change Western thought; but like, i would defo have liked more on how a Buddhist society from whence these ideas come is actually 'more enlightened' or better or whatever, right? these 'ancient religions' are in fact being practiced in places and aren't just being rejuvenated in America ... so it just felt like there was a huge gaping hole in this man's argument because of how flimsy and unsubstantiated his understanding of wiser, more 'in tune w the higher mystery' religions.