Knowledge and the Sacred

Author: Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Can science thrive without a spiritual conscience? How can we restore the moral dimension to education? And why has modernity failed to answer the great existential questions? This book takes us on an intellectual journey that combines philosophy, religion, and metaphysics, revealing the spiritual roots of knowledge that modernity has obscured beneath the debris of material rationalism. The author, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, argues that true knowledge is inseparable from the sacred; rather, it derives its meaning and purpose from it. He believes that contemporary man, having severed himself from this transcendent dimension, is experiencing a spiritual and epistemological crisis that threatens his very existence. The book is an invitation to reclaim a vision of the world where wisdom and intellect, the apparent and the hidden, are unified, allowing man to return to his original center: as a knowing being, connected to the Absolute, and dwelling in the presence of the Sacred. The book was delivered as part of the famous "Gifford Lectures" at the University of Edinburgh, which have been associated with the most prominent theologians, philosophers, and scientists in Europe and America. These lectures formed the basis of influential works in the modern world. It is considered one of the foundational books for "postmodern critique of secularism" by reconnecting knowledge with its sacred roots and demonstrating how modernity has obscured the spiritual dimension of science.