Abstract
This chapter argues that the search for knowledge is motivated by a desire to find unity in the seeming diversity of the world, as Einstein testifies. References to the beauty and elegance of theories in science and mathematics point to their ability to unify aspects of the external world, but also to the ‘fusion’ (Ian Stewart) between our knowledge and the external world. The chapter discusses the strength of this ‘cosmological urge’ (Berman), the eros to forge a relationship with the cosmos through knowledge. It also acknowledges the tension between unification and specialisation in knowledge, and the issue of domination and exploitation of the external world.
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Fitch, J.G. (2018). Unity in Knowledge: Eros and the Cosmological Urge. In: The Poetry of Knowledge and the 'Two Cultures'. Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89560-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89560-4_1
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