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A Review of '''Real Presences''' by G. Steiner

A Review of the book '''Real Presences''' written by G. Steiner

==fr. Theology Vol. 102 (1999) 169-176==

==fr. Theology Vol. 102 (1999) 169-176==

''Real Presences: Two Scientists’ Response to [[George Steiner]]''

''Real Presences: Two Scientists’ Response to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Steiner George Steiner]''

==Authors==

==Authors==

Wilson Poon and Tom McLeish

Wilson Poon and Tom McLeish

Real Presences is Steiner's personal manifesto against the [[deconstruction movement]] in modern [[literature]] (and [[art]] and [[music]]). It is not a book that many scientists would read, let alone re-read.And yet we have read and re-read the book; it has made us laugh and cry. Why? This essay is a first attempt at articulating the shock of relevance two scientists felt after their encounter with this remarkable book.

Real Presences is Steiner's personal manifesto against the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction deconstruction] movement in modern [[literature]] (and [[art]] and [[music]]). It is not a book that many scientists would read, let alone re-read.And yet we have read and re-read the book; it has made us laugh and cry. Why? This essay is a first attempt at articulating the shock of relevance two scientists felt after their encounter with this remarkable book.

 

==Section 1==

==Section 1==

Real Presences is evidently born out of pain (one reviewer calls it a ‘vulnerable’ book), the pain

Real Presences is evidently born out of pain (one reviewer calls it a ‘vulnerable’ book), the pain

powerfully with our vision of what lies at the core of science:

powerfully with our vision of what lies at the core of science:

<p>‘The famous question at the roots of [[metaphysics]] is: “Why should there not be nothing?” ’

<blockquote>‘The famous question at the roots of [[metaphysics]] is: “Why should there not be nothing?” ’

(152) ‘Today, mathematical models proclaim access to the origins of the present [[universe]].

(152) ‘Today, mathematical models proclaim access to the origins of the present [[universe]].

Molecular [[biology]] may have in reach an unravelling of the thread whose beginning is that

Molecular [[biology]] may have in reach an unravelling of the thread whose beginning is that

of life. Nothing in these prodigious conjectures disarms, let alone elucidates, the fact that

of life. Nothing in these prodigious conjectures disarms, let alone elucidates, the fact that

the world is when it might not have been, the fact that we are in it when we might, when

the world is when it might not have been, the fact that we are in it when we might, when

we could not have been.’</p>

we could not have been.’</blockquote>

But what is science? In Steiner’s terms it is men and women extending the cortesia of welcome to

But what is science? In Steiner’s terms it is men and women extending the cortesia of welcome to

of disappointment to read (italics ours)

of disappointment to read (italics ours)

<blockquote>‘Only art can go some way towards making accessible, towards waking into some

<center>‘Only art can go some way towards making accessible, towards waking into some

measure of communicability, the shear inhuman otherness of matter.’</blockquote>

measure of communicability, the shear inhuman otherness of matter.’</center>

Frighteningly, ‘we are utterly free not to receive ... [when we are] face to face with the presence of

Frighteningly, ‘we are utterly free not to receive ... [when we are] face to face with the presence of

==Bibliography==

==Bibliography==

1 George Steiner, Real Presences (Faber and Faber 1989)

#George Steiner, Real Presences (Faber and Faber 1989)

2 George Steiner, A Festival Overture, Festival Lecture (The University of Edinburgh 1996)

#George Steiner, A Festival Overture, Festival Lecture (The University of Edinburgh 1996)

3 Numbers in brackets refer to pages in Real Presences.

#Numbers in brackets refer to pages in Real Presences.

4 See, e.g. The EPSRC Programme 1997-98 (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council 1997)

#See, e.g. The EPSRC Programme 1997-98 (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council 1997)

5 Reprinted in Language and Silence (Faber and Faber 1985)

#Reprinted in Language and Silence (Faber and Faber 1985)

6 John Carey’s Introduction in The Faber Book of Science (Faber and Faber 1995)

#John Carey’s Introduction in The Faber Book of Science (Faber and Faber 1995)

7 See, e.g., B. Appleyard, Understanding the Present (Pan 1992)

#See, e.g., B. Appleyard, Understanding the Present (Pan 1992)

8 S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (Hutchison 1993)

#S. Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (Hutchison 1993)

9 J. Gribbin and M. Rees, Cosmic Coincidences (Heinemann, 1990)

#J. Gribbin and M. Rees, Cosmic Coincidences (Heinemann, 1990)

10 This process is documented by, e.g. S. Weinberg, op. cit., p. 196.

#This process is documented by, e.g. S. Weinberg, op. cit., p. 196.

11 C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (Fontana 1985), title of Chapter 14

#C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle (Fontana 1985), title of Chapter 14

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]

[[Category: Philosophy]]