From Science to God: Exploring the Mystery of Consciousness

Peter Russell started out as an atheist studying science at Cambridge, but unsatisfied with the materialistic answers (or lack thereof) offered by facts, then went on to investigate Eastern spiritual traditions and become an author and sort of guru-for-hire. Here he offers what amounts to a brief lecture presenting the view, more fully expounded in his book of the same title, that Western man must move beyond a purely scientific approach to life (not to mention an obsession with trying to achieve happiness through the accumulation of things) and grapple with the mystery of consciousness and nature of identity in order to achieve true inner peace and gain insights through meditation. Russell's rambling discourse touches upon basic epistemological issues raised in the past by Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Leibnitz, Berkeley, and Wittgenstein regarding what's generally called the philosophy of mind, in addition to the modern social problem Emile Durkheim termed “anomie” (a condition where social and/or moral norms are confused, unclear, or absent), but his treatment is decidedly superficial (the same could be said of his remarks on Eastern spirituality). Of course, one shouldn't expect much from a 23-minute treatment of what are, after all, some of the most fundamental questions of human existence (especially when a good deal of the running-time is given over to scene-setting visuals), but ultimately this DVD seems little more than an advertisement for Russell's books and for-hire services to corporations and seminar participants. Not recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)