Nature Mysticism

Mercer, John Edward, 1857-1922Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
342K words
Chapters
35

Tags

English Originals Western PhilosophyReligion History of PhilosophyNature ObservationLife PhilosophyAestheticismSpiritual PracticeNature PhilosophyAcademic StudyIntellectual Commentary

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Nature Mysticism by John Edward MercerAuthor: Mercer, John Edward, 1857-1922,Language: English, Class: BL: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Religion: General, Miscellaneous and Atheism, Release Date: Jun 9, 2006

Editor's review

Nature Mysticism by John Edward Mercer is a work of philosophy and religion exploring the relationship between natural experience and religious feeling. The author seeks to establish connections between natural phenomena and mystical experience, discussing the awe, sense of unity, and transcendence that arise when people confront nature; the book belongs to the intersection of religious philosophy and natural theology. Its value lies in offering a spiritual dimension for understanding natural experience rather than a purely scientific explanation; the prose carries the speculative character of early twentieth-century religious-philosophical writing and is suited to slow, repeated reading. For readers interested in mystical traditions, natural theology, or the psychology of religion, it is a text of reference value. Note that its argumentative framework and terminology bear the marks of their era; modern readers should read critically and understand it within the history of ideas. The book is suited to thematic study rather than light entertainment.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the introduction or first chapter first to clarify the author's definitions of "nature" and "mysticism" before going further.
  2. Keep a notebook and record core concepts and lines of argument as you read for easier review.
  3. Read alongside a general history of religious philosophy or natural theology to understand the intellectual context.
  4. Pause after each chapter and restate the author's views in your own words to test your understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35

FAQ

What does "nature mysticism" mean in this book? It refers to a mystical experience and religious feeling that transcends everyday experience when people confront nature—such as awe, a sense of unity, and transcendence. Mercer seeks to establish connections between natural phenomena and religious experience; this is a discussion at the intersection of religious philosophy and natural theology, not a work of natural science in the strict sense.
Can readers without a religious background read this book? Yes, but it requires some patience with religious philosophy and speculative discussion. The book involves mystical traditions and theological concepts, which may feel abstract to readers without background. It helps to learn the basic questions of natural theology first or to read alongside an introductory work.
Is this book suitable as a reference for discussions of ecological ethics? It can serve as background in intellectual history, but it should not be treated directly as a practical text for contemporary ecological ethics. The book focuses on the relationship between natural experience and religious feeling, not on modern environmental policy or specific arguments in ecological ethics. For ecological topics, position it as a historical intellectual resource rather than as contemporary conclusions.

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About the author

Mercer, John Edward, 1857-1922 Author · 1857–1922

John Edward Mercer (Mercer, John Edward, 1857–1922) is the author of Nature Mysticism. Public information about his life is limited: his nationality, education and professional career cannot be reliably established, and it is currently possible only to confirm that he lived from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century and left this one work. Judging from its title and subject, the book explores the relationship between nature and mystical experience, belonging to a line of writing where religious philosophy meets contemplation of the natural world, and reflecting the speculative interest in spiritual experience and the observation of nature in the early twentieth-century English-speaking world. Mercer's approach tends to elevate personal feeling for nature into philosophical and religious discussion rather than stopping at natural-historical description. Because his output was small and his work circulated narrowly, he is not widely known among general readers, yet his writing offers a useful reference point for understanding the currents of nature mysticism in that period.