This paper aims to describe and elaborate on a recent discursive change within the new-age movement. Since the seventies and the publishing of speculative popular science books like The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra and The self-aware universe by Amit Goswami, the idea that quantum physics resonates with spirituality has become the topic of hundreds of books and movies. The quantum-spiritual discourse has three distinct ways to approach quantum physics in its discussion on spirituality: The parallelistic approach which emphasizes the similarities between eastern philosophies and modern physics, the monistic-idealistic approach which tells us that mind is the foundation of matter and the scientific spiritual approach which tries to explain spiritual claims scientifically. In the quantum-spiritual discourse, quantum physical phenomena (e.g. non-locality and entanglement) are being called upon to validate metaphysical statements. The primary assumption of the discourse is that the shift of paradigm due to the establishment of modern physics also is a shift of paradigm of spirituality. With the object to examine the common claims made in the discourse, cross-references between spiritual arguments and facts of quantum physics are being made. A discussion is held about the probable influence of the historical context, with particular focus on the monistic evolvement during the late nineteenth century.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:21:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pablo Nogueira.pdf: 1921895 bytes, checksum: 8fae9708904e9ea1b48d7e0381c03b62 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this dissertation is to discuss the religious elements in the work of Indian physicist Amit Goswami. Goswami became a familiar figure in the New Age movement because of his proposal to interpret quantum mechanics −based on the idea of a non-local and transcendent conscience as the foundation of reality − and for his advocacy of a synthesis between spirituality and scientific discourse. The text begins with a history of connections between science and religion proposed since the mid 19th century until the rise of New Age in the 1970s. Its main focus is the dialogue between science and religion which began to be settled with the development of quantum mechanics. The dissertation approaches the work of Goswami with the intent of highlighting its main ideas: the criticism of materialist realism, the mystical origin of religions, their inability to adequately convey the essential truth of the mystical experience, his confidence that certain experiments could support the belief in a transcendent dimension of reality and the moral crisis experienced by modern societies. Next, the dissertation uses the definition of religion proposed by Geertz and makes evident the religious element of Goswami´s speech characterized by its quest to link cosmology and ethos in order to substantiate a new ethic for contemporary societies. Finally, Hanegraaff´s definitions of spirituality and religion allow distinguish his Goswami s work as an example of spirituality based on a secular symbolic system / O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir o elemento religioso presente na obra do físico indiano Amit Goswami. Goswami tornou-se uma figura conhecida dentro do movimento Nova Era por sua proposta de interpretar a mecânica quântica tendo como fundamento da realidade a ideia de uma consciência não-local e transcendente, e por sua defesa de uma síntese entre espiritualidade e discurso científico. O texto começa por apresentar um histórico das aproximações entre ciência e religião propostas desde meados do século 19 até o surgimento da Nova Era nos anos 1970, tendo como foco principal o diálogo entre ambas que começou a ser estabelecido a partir do desenvolvimento da mecânica quântica. Apresenta-se um recorte da obra de Goswami com o objetivo de evidenciar suas principais idéias: a crítica ao realismo materialista, a origem mística das religiões, a incapacidade delas em transmitir de forma adequada a verdade essencial da experiência mística, sua crença de que certos experimentos poderiam sustentar a crença numa dimensão transcendente da realidade e a crise moral vivida pelas sociedades modernas. A seguir, recorrendo à definição de religião proposta por Geertz evidencia-se o elemento religioso do discurso de Goswami, caracterizado por sua busca de associar ethos e cosmologia a fim de fundamentar uma nova ética para as sociedades contemporâneas. Por fim, as definições de espiritualidade e de religião de Hanegraaff permitem caracterizar seu trabalho como exemplo de espiritualidade que se assenta sobre um sistema simbólico secular

This paper aims to describe and elaborate on a recent discursive change within the new-age movement. Since the seventies and the publishing of speculative popular science books like The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra and The self-aware Universe by Amit Goswami, the idea that quantum physics resonates with spirituality has become the topic of hundreds of books and movies. The quantum-spiritual discourse has three distinct ways to approach quantum physics in its discussion on spirituality: The parallelistic approach which emphasizes the similarities between eastern philosophies and modern physics, the monistic-idealistic approach which tells us that mind is the foundation of matter and the scientific spiritual approach which tries to explain spiritual claims scientifically. In the quantum-spiritual discourse, quantum physical phenomena (e.g. non-locality and entanglement) are being called upon to validate metaphysical statements. The primary assumption of the discourse is that the shift of paradigm due to the establishment of modern physics also is a shift of paradigm of spirituality. With the object to examine the common claims made in the discourse, cross-references between spiritual arguments and facts of quantum physics are being made. A discussion is held about the probable influence of the historical context, with particular focus on the monistic evolvement during the late nineteenth century.