Richard Tarnas

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.

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 has several siblings. 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. Fact|date=December 2007

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. Fact|date=December 2007

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.

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)

External links

* [http://www.cosmosandpsyche.com/ "Cosmos and Psyche"]
*California Institute of Integral Studies [http://www.ciis.edu/academics/pcc.html graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness]
* [http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/tarnas.html Understading Our Moment in History] : An Interview with Richard Tarnas by Scott London
* [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/193/story_19389_1.html The Enchanted Universe] Interview by Shelley Ackerman
* [http://www.raygrasse.com/pages/cos.html An Interview with Richard Tarnas] by Ray Grasse Reprinted from The Mountain Astrologer, issue #124, Dec/Jan 2006
* [http://www.gaiamind.com/Conjunct.html "Afterword"] from Tarnas' "Prometheus the Awakener"
* [http://www.gaiamind.org/AstroIntro.html An Introduction to Archetypal Astrological Analysis] by Tarnas