Hellfire and Lightning Rods: Liberating Science, Technology, and Religion

by Frederick Ferré

Renowned philosopher Frederick Ferré invites us to contemplate a new world to be constructed out of the debris of modernity. Hellfire and Lightning Rods displays a vision in which the dichotomies between religion, philosophy, science, and technology can be seen as too-narrow construals of a single, but polyvalent, organic world.

Ferré wisely notes that the conceptual worlds of premodern animism, modern “scientism,” and biblical orthodoxy have major internal flaws and create immense practical problems. Yet, while they are largely unconvincing to persons who see the need for “postmodern” approaches, a successor to these views is nowhere near universally accepted. In that context, Ferré suggests that an important interim worldview that he calls “multi-mythic organicism” will help humanity recover spiritual dimensions now lacking.

240 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2018

About the author

Frederick Pond Ferré was Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at The University of Georgia. He was a past president of the Metaphysical Society of America. Much of his work concerned how metaphysics is entwined with practical questions about how we live our life, including the ethical dimensions of life.