Conscious Clay: From Science via Philosophy to Religion

by William Allison Shimer

Overview

THE EXCITING “BULL SESSIONS” that so often generate more heat than light, and absorb college students and others in animated arguments far into the night, are nine times out of ten on subjects discussed in these pages. In fact, this book is largely a product of many years of individual and group discussions, as well as of prolonged study in and out of universities of the three essential departments of the modern mind—science, philosophy, and religion.

The approach here used is chosen for the scientifically inclined person of today in non-Christian as well as in so-called Christian lands. Jewish and Christian teachers of former periods started by quoting the Bible, but that does not appeal to the skeptical youth of this age. Facts of experience and science must now be the starting point.

The arguments employed in these chapters are directed not at the devout religionist but to the troubled and inquiring mind. If this brief but comprehensive analysis of the world, life, ethics, and religion is followed through and its unexpressed implications are thought out and lived out, many will find, I trust, a unifying outlook that will lead not only to happiness, even in tragic misfortune, but to creative living that gives personality survival beyond what we call death. All readers can find interest and profit, I hope, through the adaptation of these ideas to their own experiences, beliefs, and problems, and thus receive some aid in the all-important task of developing their own philosophies of life.”—William Allison Shimer, Preface

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789126310
Publisher:	Muriwai Books
Publication date:	12/05/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	158
File size:	631 KB

About the Author

William Allison Shimer (1894-1983) was an American professor of philosophy, who had a distinguished career in the fields of philosophy and education.

Born in Freed, West Virginia, he graduated from the Glenville State Normal School (now Glenville State College) in Glenville, West Virginia in 1914. He received his A.B. degree from Harvard University in 1917, followed by a master’s degree from the University of Rochester in 1922. He received his second master’s degree in 1923 and a Ph.D. in 1925 from Harvard and then went to the University of Paris as a Harvard Fellow. During his extended stay on the continent he traveled extensively.

After teaching philosophy at Ohio State University for four years, he became very active in the Phi Beta Kappa organization, as executive secretary of the United Chapters and as secretary of the Foundation. During his time there, he founded and edited both The American Scholar magazine and The Key Reporter. In 1943 he resigned to join the armed services and served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy, commanding a unit of the V-12 Navy College Training Program.

After World War II, Dr. Shimer was selected to become president of Marietta College in Ohio. Serving during a period of rapid post-war growth, he worked to expand the school’s enrollment and physical plant. He hired the distinguished Swiss philosopher Fritz Marti to start a philosophy department at the college.

Dr. Shimer and his wife Dorothy moved to Hawaii in 1947, and he taught at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The Shimers also became involved with the World Brotherhood (later renamed the Council on World Tensions), an international organization founded under the auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews to promote understanding among different religions and cultures.

Shimer retired in 1968 and passed away in 1983.