This is a pertinent book in the current chaotic world as it deep dives into the human condition and unravels the social, economic and ecological problems facing mankind. The book enlightens the mind with its profound breadth of learning and its fantastic range of knowledge. This is a collection of lectures given by Aldous Huxley at University of California, Santa Barbara in 1959. In these lectures Huxley begins with biological foundations of human civilisation – the state of the planet, population, heredity in relation to environment. Then he tries to cover how modern civilisation with its use of technology impacts the social and political order. Lastly he delves into the individual and his potentialities, and what we might perhaps do about their realisation.

The range of scholarship and understanding revealed in the book is remarkable. I learned so much through Huxley’s discourse on religion, mysticism, eugenics, personal freedom, the nature of art, imagination and consciousness. One surprise for me was his deep understanding of Hindu philosophy and how it complements the western tradition. This book illuminates with extraordinary clarity not the problems faced by the modern civilisation but also the future potentialities of the modern world.

View all my reviews