Name: Science, Politics, and Gnosticism
ISBN: 9781932236484

Eric Voegelin

Ellis Sandoz

"Science, Politics and Gnosticism comprises two essays by Eric Voegelin (1901-85), arguably one of the most provocative and influential political philosophers of the last century. In these essays, Voegelin contends that certain modern movements, including positivism, Hegelianism, Marxism, and the "God is dead" school, are variants of the gnostic tradition he identified in his classic work The New Science of Politics. Voegelin attempts to resolve the intellectual confusion that has resulted from the dominance of gnostic thought by clarifying the distinction between political gnosticism and the philosophy of politics."--BOOK JACKET.

Two Essays

Science, Politics, and Gnosticism

Zeke Taylor

Found this lying around.

Apparently he influenced Flannery O’Connor (Wiki). He also taught at an SEC school: LSU.

This doesn’t pretend to be anything more than an outline connecting “gnosticism” with schools of thought. I would probably need to read more of his writing to appreciate these connections.

Simon Elliott Stegall

Difficult to read, but still accessible. Voegelin tends to define his terms AFTER using them in analysis rather than before, which is confusing at first but actually appears to be a very sound method; sometimes terms are so complex they can only be elucidated through a chapter rather than a definition.

This little book is more or less about gnosticism in its many forms and the murder of God that arises from such thought. He attacks Marx, Hegel and Nietzsche quite a bit, calling them "anti-philosophical swindlers", as their gnosticism necessarily prohibits certain questions in order to maintain an illusory teleology. I wish he talked more about why Christianity is a better alternative and how it succeeds where gnosticism fails, but I guess this is more an evaluation of a heresy than an apologetic.

Mostly this is just giving me a bunch of ammo for my upcoming review of Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand was a cheap Gnostic "swindler" if there ever was one.

Science, Politics, and Gnosticism Two Essays