My latest academic publication – on the work of my favourite philosopher of all time: Alan Watts, and how his “dramatic model of the universe” can contribute to peace 🙂
Abstract
This article explores the contribution of Alan Watts’ ‘dramatic model of the universe’ to the pursuit of peace. It locates Watts’ critique of dominant Western worldviews alongside process philosophers, ecologists and peace theorists who have made similar claims. It focuses on Watts’ proposition that understanding the ‘self’ to be a ‘skin-encapsulated ego’ is a root cause of many of humanity’s biggest problems, not least the destruction of the environment. According to Watts, a more satisfying worldview understands the self to be a process, inseparable from the cosmological, evolutionary and ecological processes out of which it has emerged. Watts refers to this as a ‘dramatic’ model of the universe. He contrasts this with the ‘ceramic’ and ‘fully-automatic’ models, which he posits underlie most Western worldviews. The impact of these models is discussed in terms of social, ecological and inner peace.
Keywords: Alan Watts; dramatic model; worldviews; panentheism; positive peace; inner peace; social justice; ecological harmony
Link to article: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03060497.2016.1142257
To cite this article: Juliet Bennett (2015) “Alan Watts’ ‘dramatic model’ and the pursuit of peace”, Self & Society, 43:4, 335-344, DOI: 10.1080/03060497.2016.1142257
PS. I can give a special link to 50 people to download for free so please contact me if you’d like it…
I am having great difficulty gaining access to your article, “Alan Watts’ ‘dramatic model’ and the pursuit of peace”, through my library. I’ve been working on an article dealing with process approaches to political order, as well as an article about the impact of World War I on administrative thought (my contention that the administrative state has been intimately linked to ‘war state’ conceptions of political order). I’m a great fan of Watts (you’re probably aware that recordings of his lectures are available on YouTube). Your article sounds very interesting! How can I gain access to your full article?
I’ll email you a copy 🙂
If any of the free 50 downloads are still available, I would be interested.
I’ll send it to you now 🙂