7
Florence Road
Harrington Park, NJ
07640.
kevin.sharpe@tui.edu
6 December 2005.
Re: Query for In the Spirit of Happiness
Dear
In the 1970s,
a popular poster depicted Charlie Brown holding a smiling Snoopy. The caption
read, Happiness is a warm dog. Many people would agree. But, while happiness
may indeed be a warm dog, do we have any notion of how happiness functions? Do
we know about the scientific understanding of happiness, or its spiritual
dimensions, or do we only know that a warm dog on a cold day will bring
happiness to us?
Happiness is rooted in levels of biochemicals in the brain.
So, too, is spirituality. Are spiritual drives for happiness biochemical?
Further, unhappiness isnt merely the absence of happiness. Happiness seeking
and unhappiness avoiding are pre-human biological drives that become central
desires, transformed through the unique human capacity to create meaning.
Making meaning has traditionally been the domain of religion. Understanding
happiness and its scientific and spiritual dimensions brings together both
traditions of the modern age so that we can not only feel that happiness is a
warm dog, but also know why we feel that way.
Books on happiness abound. In the Spirit of Happiness is unique, not only because it develops
new insights on the mechanisms behind happiness and unhappiness, but because it
also unifies secular and spiritual concerns. It addresses our full selves, and
the warm dog, too.
For 35
years, I have been studying the nexus of science and spirituality. Currently, I
also work in prehistoric archaeology, exploring human line markings and the
evolution of language. I have published three books (Sleuthing the Divine:
The Nexus of Science and Spirit; David Bohms World: New Science and New
Religion; and From Science to an Adequate Mythology), have edited
several more, and written many articles and academic papers. In the 1980s and 1990s, I founded, published, and edited
the magazine, Science & Spirit. I
began then, and continue to edit the book series, Theology and the Sciences,
for Fortress Press. Five other books
await publishers: Love and Happiness,
Dreaming Time, Natural Morality, Our Ancestors Touch Us, and Science of God.
I am a professor in the Graduate College of Union Institute
and University, Cincinnati
(a non-traditional learning-at-a-distance program, where I supervise and advise
doctoral students), am a member of Harris
Manchester College,
Oxford University, and co-direct the Oxford
Institute for Science and Spirit. My academic background includes doctorates in
mathematics and in religious studies. I frequently speak at academic conferences in science and religion.
I have enclosed a SASE. However, as I travel frequently, it
is best to contact me through email. A full proposal and sample chapter are
available for you should you request them. Thank you for your time and
interest, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Sharpe.
www.ksharpe.com
Possible publishers:
HarperSF
Routledge
OUP (Oxford and NY)
CUP
Prometheus
Basic Books
Perseus Books
Harvard UP