The Identity of Man Book

With infectious enthusiasm and a gift for conveying the excitement of ideas, Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974) discusses the impact of science on our sense of self and the need to reevaluate ethics in light of the scientific perspective. As both a practicing scientist and an author of books on poetry, he makes interesting connections between the uses of the imagination in science and in literature. Whereas science creates experiments to test hypotheses about the outside world, he notes that literature also provides "experiments" in poetry and prose, allowing readers to experience what it means to be fully human and relating the individual's inner life to that of every human being. Bronowski argues that a true humanistic philosophy must give equal place to the inner, subjective vision of the arts and the outer, objective perception of science since they are both products of one self-conscious creative imagination. In the final analysis, he emphasizes that these perspectives converge to reveal a more enlightened, universal ethics, one that fosters tolerance, mutual understanding, an appreciation of differences, and a sense that we all share a common destiny as human participants in nature's cosmic drama.Read More