ESALEN

CTR

CENTER FOR THEORY & RESEARCH

Evolutionary Love and the Ravages of Greed

The widespread turmoil in the human community today is a symptom of the dominance of un-checked desire, or Greed. This book distinguishes two ancient concepts of love (the Greek ideas of agape and eros) and explores how agape, the driver of evolution, when put into play through the harmonious action of eros, displays the true essence of love – Evolutionary Love– that alone is the antidote to the ravages of Greed.

crabtree book cover

Praise for Evolutionary Love and the Ravages of Greed

"The widespread turmoil in the human community today is a symptom of the dominance of un-checked desire, or Greed. This book distinguishes two ancient concepts of love (the Greek ideas of agape and eros) and explores how agape, the driver of evolution, when put into play through the harmonious action of eros, displays the true essence of love – Evolutionary Love– that alone is the antidote to the ravages of Greed".

– Robert S. Corrington, Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Philosophical Theology, Drew University

“This is a gem of a book with many glistening facets. From one angle, it is a philosophical primer on unconditional and erotic love and how these drive biological, cultural, spiritual, and, ultimately, cosmic evolution—Dante’s love “that moves the sun and the stars.” From another angle, the book is a reflection on the power of trance as both the psychosomatic means to access extraordinary human capacities and creativity, but also as the primary mechanism of social, economic, and religious control. From another angle still, the book reveals a world awash in signs, meaning, and purpose, whose human interpretation literally and truly evolves both the world and us. Adam Crabtree is our moral conscience and ethical guide here, but also our cultural trance-breaker and our practical guide to a new (and yet very old) practice—the practice of actualizing human potential.”

– Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion

“Adam Crabtree has given us a thoughtful, original, nuanced, and both philosophically- and psychologically- wide-ranging exploration of the two basic forms of love — agape and eros, emphasizing the primacy of the former and its critical role in the advancement of humankind. At the same time, his book is also a valuable contribution to the study of philosopher Charles Peirce. Crabtree’s discussions of the varieties of greed and the manifestation of greed in the group mind of religious institutions are especially penetrating. And his trenchant critique of institutions of higher learning is especially timely.

– Stephen Braude, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Maryland