Forms and the Reformation of Science

Forms are all around us: clouds, flowers, creatures, even systems
of thought and logical relations. And yet the nature of forms is
rarely part of the modern scientific conversation. In this
episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and
Mark Vernon discuss the importance of forms and how they work.
The need for form to account for life as we know it has been
eclipsed by the mechanical philosophy of modern science that
turned instead to forces, extrinsic causes and abstract laws. But
the case can be made that science needs to revisit the notion of
forms. Rupert’s own work draws much from that imperative. The
existence of forms also matters in terms of explaining our
relationship to others and the world around us. If the cosmos is
more mind-like than matter-like than that means our sense of
participation and communion is real. Indeed, it might be said
that when we study and contemplate, our minds meet the
intelligence implicit in all things, which itself arises from the
divine intelligence that shapes existence itself.