Angels Fear: Towards an Epistemology of the Sacred

by Gregory Bateson, Mary Catherine Bateson

Discusses mental processes, the role of humans in nature, experience, and the connection between myth, religion, and science

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Religion, Spirituality, Sociology

225 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe. In the 1940s he helped extend systems theory/cybernetics to the social/behavioral sciences, and spent the last decade of his life developing a "meta-science" of epistemology to bring together the various early forms of systems theory developing in various fields of science. Some of his most noted writings are to be found in his books, Steps to an Ecology of Mind (1972) and Mind and Nature (1979). Angels Fear (published posthumously in 1987) was co-authored by his daughter Mary Catherine Bateson.

Reviews

[Marijn Meijles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very interesting as it approaches religion in a system theory way but crossing boundaries between different sciences in an enlightening manner. Even if you don't agree with some of the directions his thinking takes, the approach is very out-of-the-box and can give you a new way of approaching other areas in life.

The mechanisms of mind he uncovers are simple yet capable of giving profound insights into our world. The book is hard to get through at times but it is definitely worth the effort.

[Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was Gregory Bateson's last book, which was still in manuscript at the time he died, in 1980. His daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson, who had been working with him for many years on his ideas (without receiving credit as co-author), completed the book from his manuscript. This book continues the thoughts of Mind and Nature (published in 1979); in fact, it is prefigured in the "metalogue" between Gregory and Mary Catherine that concludes the earlier book. Impossible to give a speedy summary of Bateson's thought here, but suffice it to say that he recognized that his thoughts about mind, and our relationship to the ever-evolving world, required him to address beauty and the sacred. That is the effort made in Angels Fear.

I recommend this book and Mind and Nature as highly as I can. They are filled with powerful ideas which, upon sufficient study and meditation, potentially have the ability to alter your world-view.

[Julian Rombach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read such a lot in this area of thinking. Watzlawick, Wittgenstein, Spencer-Brown, even Wiener and of course Whitehead. And don't forget the difficult Wilfrid Sellars. I consider myself quite good in understanding these subjects. But Angels Fear is the one I have to put down every two pages to think about what I have read - actually for some YEARS - before starting again. So I am not really able to talk the contents, except that is is truely mysterious. "Mind-blowing" is a term which in this case really fits a book.

[Stephanie]

I have read and re-read this at least 10 times. Every time I learn something new. It is a wonderful book on many things, mostly understanding yourself.

[Dylan]

Wonderful book. Circular in the right ways, cleanly stated and very expressive of the ideas they're trying to convey. I have a hard time saying anything less than 'read it for your self' to get an idea of what it's about.

[Ladyfilosopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. A post-humous collaboration with her father, who Mary Catherine Bateston had collaborated with on many of his books in his life-time, facilitated the unfolding of the desired them in its vastness and detailed furls as it deals with the specific and the 'fuzzy. It has 'hit the nail on the head' about so many thoughts and considerations I have had over the years. I am reading this book while I formulate concept and material regarding the Ethics of Care. I found many over arching concepts to help me continue. I have the 2005 edition which credits his daughter Mary on the cover. There have been so many memorable statements along the way, which I would have written on Goodread's site but when I was obliged to put the book down due to commitments, time was tight, and bus schedules had to be respected. Anyone interested in complexity, the mysteries of life, relationships, meaning, and experiencing the fruit of this amazing collaboration between male and female, father and daughter, exquisite minds both, please, give each page the time it merits. Though the annotations are well done, I found cause to add a few more voices and page references. My book has become a notebook. Good Luck, have fun

[Silvio · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was infinitely more than just a worthy sequel and upgrade to "mind and nature". (dead) father and daughter have written a true piece of art, combining more evidently interrelated ideas and concepts than there are fingers on all hands on earth (these pictures show just a small fraction of this book's beautiful vastness).

i really love this attempt of these super-atheist western scientists to extract the sacred, "god", out of their worldview, leading to a convincing defense of religion. and indeed some of their ideas sound very similar to notions of eastern nondual traditions i have come to love - especially nondual shaiva tantra.

[B. Scott Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been quite some time since I read this and it is now buried in a storage locker. I'm reluctant to try and write a review without the benefit of having another look at it except to say I recall many "aha" moments and enjoyed Mary Catherine Bateson's constructed metalogues. I thought I'd add this book to my list now as I've just ordered a copy of Steps.

[Barongia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molto interessante, libro impegnativo e che fa riflettere, mi piace l’alternarsi di capitoli con dialoghi e altri con spiegazioni, forse questi ultimi a volte sono troppo “pieni” di contenuti, talvolta anche diversi

[Angela Juline]

I don't think it's fair for me to rate this book, because the content was so far over my head.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Catherine Bateson has worked her toes off to write this book. It is written with great sincerity and dedication to her father's request. This was an impossible task.

Gregory Bateson was a very creative, intelligent man of many talents. Many decades ago, I read a random article that he had written. I never forgot it. It was about degrees of neatness, a seemingly trivial topic. It talked about how keeping our environment varies from place to place and person-to-person. It made me recognize that my need for order was a personal preference, not a universal necessity. I have lived with by beau for 46 years now; I attribute that longevity to my having read that article.

ANGELS FEAR was written while Bateson was dying. I am sure he did not recognize the enormous burden he gave to his daughter. In theory, it integrates everything he knows about man and his relation to the cosmos. It was left in an unorganized state when he died. It has its moments.

[Jakob Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Læste den i den danske oversættelse. Mystisk bog som bærer præg af, datteren har skrevet den færdig ud fra efterladte manuskripter. Store ideer og prøver at sammenfatte værket. Starter fremragende men fuldfører ikke helt projektet. Stadig er Bateson og datter så fulde af visdom, den er en fornøjelse at læse.

[Katerina Ruud]

🤍🤍🤍

[hikaru fujita · Rating 3 out of 5]

本書は平成4年に購入し、私にはいまでも大きな課題を残してくれている。グレゴリー・ベイトソンと娘がおこなう、感受性の強い会話が印象的である。
生物の獲得形質遺伝の問題で端的にみられることだが、つねに出てくる相互関係は単純な二者関係ではない。この相互関係は獲得形質として確定するのに、受精時に出会う単純な二者択一式の類似性テストをくぐるだけでなく、相互関係が二者関係からより複雑なものになってゆき、収束しようとしても複雑さが一方的に増大するということが言える。
相互関係はこうして、関連はあるけれどもけっして完全な類似性をもたない「命題のネットワーク」どうしをはめあわせたり、ぶつけたりという込み入ったものとなる。そして、この複雑さの増大から導かれる第二の道筋として階層的組織化という事実が浮かび上がってくる。これが描き出そうとしている全体図の一構成要素である。
解決の方策としてはじめに手のつけられる手段が、「階層化」というわけだ。分類・整理はだれしもはじめに物事を解決しようとして考えることだ。自然の中ででも同じ階層にいれば気が付かない新たな形質を、量がまとまることにより新たに獲得するということもある。これは新たなクラスに入らないと分からない。量が質に転化するというオーガニックを想像させる。
現象の複雑さが次第に手におえなくなり始めてくると、それに対処するオーソドックスな手続きとして還元論が威力を発揮する。観察された世界のエレガントな相互連結に与える損傷を最小限に抑えるため、データから一歩退いて、マッピング作業をどう簡略化すればよいかを考えることになる。世界とそれに対するわれわれの関係はこの場合でも生物学的な性質を保存する。
これは、非常に深遠な洞察だ。還元論は最近評判が悪いけれど、バランスを保った状態でなんとか切り抜けていこうと思えばどうしても切捨てが必要になってくる。エイヤーの決断が必要だというわけだ。選択の重要性、不可避性がここで認められる。
この書物の中でも、すべてはつながりにあるわけだから、ようするにわれわれはひとつのトートロジーを地図化しようとしているとの指摘がある。私の関心事である地図ということにはこのような地図もある。そしてこれは人類だけでなく等しく生物全般にいえることといえる。
地図化するとはなんと困難なことか！そしてなんとたやすいことか！

[Gerard]

No us deixeu enganyar pel disseny de la portada...