CSflim

Just so you are aware, very few professionals actually take these books seriously at all (be they philosophers or scientists).

Tao of Physics summed up in three lines:
1. Quantum mechanics, that brilliantly sucessful flagship theory of modern science, is deeply mysterious and hard to understand.
2. Eastern mystics have always been deeply mysterious and hard to understand.
3. Therefore eastern mystics must have been talking about quantum mechanics all along.

The Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon spring to mind.

Now I am not at all against seeing science and philosophy over-lapping. In fact, as far as I am concerned, trying to seperate them is entirely futile. How can you ask deep questions about the world, if you don't even know the nature of what you are dealing with? The problem arises when scientific concepts are taken out of context, be they by pop writers like Frijov Capra (sp?) or "serious" "accademic" "respectible" writers like Lacan, Deluze and Guattari.

Now I hold no particularly strong opinons on the main points of these postmodernist writers, which to be honest appear to be nothing more than fairly banal observations, seriously "languaged up" so as to appear profound. However don't ask me...most of the time what these writers are saying is entirely opaque to me (not that I have gone to any great length to 'decode' them).

Regardless, my objection comes when these people try to incorporate scientific and pseduo-scientific concepts into their writings, without justification (or even understanding in many cases).

So I reccomend Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont's imfamous work Intellectual Impostures (or Fashionable Nonsense as it is titled in America). these guys are not philosophers (and most certainly don't claim to be), but they 'critique' various works of modern philosophers (mostly French) and highlight when these people are obviously talking out of their arses.

I repeat I hold no beef with the rest of what these people have to say, but it certainly casts doubts on their respectability, seeing that they purposely attempt to bamboozle their readers with jargon for no justifiable reason.

So I recommend this book, not as philosophy, per se, by rather as a 'vaccine' against much of the nonsense which passes for philosophy these days. (and also because it makes for highly entertaining, laugh out loud, reading )

EDIT: on re-reading, it appears that I was lumping in Capra with the other authors mentioned. This was not at all my intention. The lower half of this post is not directed in any way towards Capra.
But, if you are looking at book dealing with "Quantum Mysticism", I suggest The Unconscious Quantum by Victor J. Stenger, though I have not yet read it.

__________________