Excellent Beauty

A philosopher and cognitive scientist returns wonder to scientific discovery while bringing religious phenomena down to earth.

Eric Dietrich is professor of philosophy at Binghamton University and the founding editor and current editor in chief of the Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence. He is the author of numerous papers and several books focusing on cognitive science, consciousness, artificial intelligence, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind.

Chris Fields, former associate vice provost for research, New Mexico State University:
Science, Eric Dietrich claims, is the most open door into profound mystery that human beings have yet invented. Excellent Beauty urges science to wrest control of the discourse of mystery from religions, which have fiercely defended their claim to be the exclusive purveyors of mystery for centuries. The mystery science reveals is not a god who loves us, but an unknowable universe in which we must learn to take care of ourselves.

Deepak Chopra, author of The Future of God:
This book is the perfect answer to dogmatic atheism and religious fundamentalism, two dangerous trends in our polarized world. For me, just reading this book became a spiritual experience! Eric Dietrich shows very elegantly how both science and philosophy deepen the mystery of existence and awareness of existence. If you are not perpetually surprised that you exist, your humanity is incomplete. To be fully human is to wonder, to have true humility, gratitude, and reverence for life. This book could get you there.

William Egginton, Johns Hopkins University, author of In Defense of Religious Moderation:
This is, quite simply, one of the most eloquent books on religion and science I have read in recent years. Eric Dietrich writes clearly and accessibly, with a touch of humor and a great deal of personality. His book moves fluidly between historically supported arguments and pedagogically minded examples, all presented in a limpid style that will be attractive to the general reader.

John Sullins, Sonoma State University:
Excellent Beauty boldly breaks the code of silence that keeps coolly rational academics from attempting to link evolution and theology. Dietrich reflects on some of the deepest mysteries of religious thought, but he does so from the viewpoint of a philosopher with deep training in logic and firmly grounded reasoning.