The Phenomenon of Man

Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit priest as well as a paleontologist. He does an amazing job reconciling scientific and spiritual perspectives. He introduces the “noosphere,” a sphere of human consciousness that emerges from the biosphere of our planet. It is part of nature. Legal, educational, research, technological, and philosophical systems are all part of the noosphere, which emerges over time from the interaction of human minds. It reminded me of Jung’s unus mundus and its archetypes. It also evoked the internet!

This groundbreaking work, published posthumously, is the first attempt to explain consciousness as the product of the evolutionary process. In doing this, Teilhard de Chardin outlines many characteristics of the evolutionary process that have never been described before. It is his effort to unite evolutionary theory, a Marxist view of evolution, and….Christianity.

The final chapter trying to drag Christ into this scientific work did not impress me, but it does not detract from the earlier chapters either.

I stumbled onto Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) in mid-life through the influence of a mentor. A paleontologist of the first rank, Teilhard embraced evolution with heart and soul. Yet, as a Jesuit of devout faith, he wished to die at Easter and did so on April 10, 1955.

Like me, Teilhard was psychically torn between competing poles—science and spirituality—and felt he must choose between them. A wise superior encouraged faithfulness to both. As a result, Teilhard has gifted us in The Phenomenon of Man with a stunning synthesis that includes such notions as cosmogenesis (the world in continual creation), complexity-consciousness… show more.