Author Description

A provocative, enduring work that reexamines humanity's place in the natural world--& the spirit's relation to the flesh--in the light of Chinese Taoism. That human beings stand separate from a nature that must be controlled, that the mind is somehow superior to the body & that all sexuality entails a seduction--a danger & a problem--are all assumptions upon which much of Western thought & culture is based. All of them in some way underlie our exploitation of the earth, distrust of emotion, loneliness & reluctance to love. Few books have challenged those assumptions as directly as this erudite & engaging work by the author of The Way of Zen. Drawing on the precepts of Taoism, Watts offers an alternative vision of humans & the universe--one in which the distinctions between self & other, spirit & matter give way to a more holistic way of seeing. Nature, Man & Woman is a book of elegance & far-reaching implication--one of those rare texts that can change the way we think, feel & love.