|
Recent developments in a range of disciplines,
from high-energy physics to biogenetic anthropology, suggest
a stunningly beautiful model of the cosmos. In A Blessed
Rage for Order, Alexander Argyros explores the implications
these discoveries might hold for literary criticism, for
art, and, more broadly, for our understanding of the place
of human culture in cosmic evolution.
Argyros challenges deconstructionist paradigms,
basing his own model largely on developing chaos theory,
in combination with J.T. Fraser's theory of evolution. He
argues that the kind of dualism that postulates an unbreachable
gap between human culture and prehuman nature must be replaced
by a view of the universe as a communicative, dynamic, and
evolving system: a model that allows the natural and cultural
worlds to exist in an endlessly innovative continuum. Argyros
presents a strong argument that although socio-institutional
contexts play a large role in defining and constituting
the world of human beings, other contexts must also be taken
into account.
The study draws on the work of E.O. Wilson,
Douglas Hofstadter, Ilya Prigogine, and Karl Popper, among
others, in proposing a new, interdisciplinary chaotic paradigm
that Argyros believes can reaffirm such concepts as universality,
identity, meaning, truth, and beauty.
Alexander J. Argyros is Associate Professor
of Arts and Humanities, University of Texas at Dallas.
|
