2020 Edition
Updated With New Findings
In The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry (published in the US as Science Set Free), Rupert shows the ways in which science is being constricted by assumptions that have, over the years, hardened into dogmas. He examines ten of these dogmas, turning them on their heads, to show that new possibilities for discovery await us beyond the materialist paradigm.
According to these dogmas, all of reality is material or physical; the world is a machine, made up of inanimate matter; nature is purposeless; consciousness is nothing but the physical activity of the brain; free will is an illusion; God exists only as an idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls.
But should science be a belief-system, or a method of enquiry? Rupert shows that the materialist ideology is moribund; under its sway, increasingly expensive research is reaping diminishing returns while societies around the world are paying the price.
First published in 2012, an updated edition was released in the UK in 2020.
Reviews
"Thirty years after his first heretical books, Sheldrake's new one, Science Set Free, is a landmark achievement. No science writing has inspired me more." — Deepak Chopra, San Francisco Chronicle
"Sheldrake drags ten of the most powerful dogmas out of the basement and into the light of day; and does science, humanity and the world at large, a considerable favour." — The Independent
"For those of us who are suspicious of the claims of materialism it's astonishing, and also heartening, to hear a scientist agree that it's a hidebound ideology, dismiss the belief in determinism as a 'delusion' and call on the 'high priests' of science to abandon their 'fantasy of omniscience'." — Robert McLuhan
More Reviews... The Spectator ... The Guardian ... Irish Times ... Country Life ... The Sunday Times... London Review ... JSPR
Related Skeptiko Interview
- 184. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake Sets Science Free From Dogma
For Transcript and show notes please visit Skeptiko.com.
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Translated Editions
Der Wissenschaftswahn: Warum der Materialismus ausgedient hat
O.W. Barth, 2012
Vitenskapens vrangforestillinger
Flux Forlag, Oslo, 2012
Reénchanter la Science
Albin Michel, Paris, 2013
Le illusioni della scienze
Apogeo, Milano, 2013
El Espjismo de la Ciencia
Editorial Kairos, Barcelona, 2013
Ciência Sem Dogmas
Cultrix, Sao Paulo, 2014
Nauka Wyzwolenie Zdogmatow
Wydawnictwo Manendra, Wroclaw, 2015
Visindablekkingin: Tjöldin dregin fra
Stjörnuútgáfan, Reykjavik, 2015
Mylene Domnenky Vedy
Fontana, Olomouc, 2015
Dogmadeta teadus: uuriva vaimu vabastamine
Eesti Transpersonaalne Assotsiatsioon, Tallinn, 2014
A kutatószellem felszabadítása - 10 inspiráló kérdés a tudomány megújulásáért
Harmónia Háló, 2019
