The Coming of the Golden Age: A View of the End of Progress

Gunther S. Stent

Prescient philosophical discussion of whiggish historical interpretations and their outcomes. Crystalline clarity most admirable aspect of work, as author states biases and risk of appearing a “rank dilletante” in the introduction, legitimizing his philosophical antecedent with 95 pages of unrelated, fairly stupefying history of his personal scientific occupation in molecular genetics. Readers who can take the leap of faith and believe Stent to be capable of producing intellectual insight can skip directly to page 95, Chapter Four, where he elaborates on his thesis, essentially the Nietzschean view of an internal and external “will to power” driving the archetype of “Faustian Man” to achievement in science, art. As these pursuits yield diminishing returns in describing outer and inner realities, Faustian Man succumbs to a transformation into “Mozartian man”…

status	Copy #1 (8318): in
genre	Philosophy » General Philosophy
publisher	Doubleday
publish date	1969
popularity	checked out 0 time(s)