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The Way of Discovery
An Introduction to the Thought of Michael Polanyi
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
200 Pages, 5.50 x 8.50 x 0.40 in
- Paperback
- 9781592446872
- Published: May 2004
$28.00 / £25.00 / AU$38.00
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This book offers the first full exploration of the religious, ethical, and social dimensions of Michael Polanyi's philosophy, and its implications for the crisis of modern culture. Michael Polanyi developed a new way of understanding the process of discovering scientific knowledge - a theory which can alter our notions of ourselves and of existence. In 'The Way of Discovery', Richard Gelwick, a former student of the renowned scientist-turned-philosopher, presents us with a comprehensive and documented introduction to Polanyi's theory of knowledge.
Michael Polanyi was born in Budapest in 1891. After a distinguished career as a physical chemist, he turned to philosophy, religion, and social sciences, becoming, by the time of his death in 1976, one of the greatest scientist-philosophers of our century. Polanyi maintained that three centuries of belief in scientific detachment had produced a crisis of culture. Working from his own experience as a scientist, and with an insight from Gestalt psychology, Polanyi asserted that objective scientific knowledge is at bottom personal knowledge - that scientists and artists establish meaning in basically the same way. His ideas call for a new way of thinking and pose a new frontier of thought, a new image of humanity
Richard Gelwick is a leader in the study of the thought of Michael Polanyi since he studied personally with Polanyi, wrote this first book on Polanyi's philosophy, and served as Coordinator of The Polanyi Society for 21 years. He was educated at Southern Methodist University, Yale Divinity School, and the Pacific School of Religion. Now retired in Maine, he is Professor Emeritus and Fellow of the Bioethics Center at the University of New England and Adjunct Professor of Bangor Theological Seminary.
"'The Way of Discovery' is an excellent book.... Gelwick presents a lucid analysis of Polanyi's concepts and a stimulating interpretation of their relevance to the future of Western civilization."
Rene Dubos (1901-1982), formerly with The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
"Richard Gelwick has achieved a thorough grasp of Polanyi's thought and its significance. The book captures the sweep and depth of Polanyi's revolutionary concepts, and is helpful to those not yet acquainted with his work, and to those who need again to be reminded of his tremendous scope."
Carl R. Rogers (1902-1990), co-founder, Center for Studies of the Person
"Professor Gelwick has not only written the first introduction to Polanyi of which I know, he has written one that it is difficult to imagine being surpassed. Henceforth, when asked by a student, 'How do I get into Polanyi?,' I shall reply, 'Get into Gelwick first.'"
William Poteat, formerly Professor of Religion and Comparative Studies, Duke University