From the most widely read Native American intellectual comes a book that searches for the structure and meaning of reality. Synthesizing ideas from some of the most eminent philosophers of modern times- ideas that have hitherto been given only a perfunctory examination- Vine Deloria Jr. juxtaposes Native American thinking with Western thought. One of Deloria's most controversial books, The Metaphysics of Modern Existence emphasizes that Native Americans have consistently perceived their realities experientially, confronting the reality of the experience, whereas Westerners often hold academic learning and theories above experience. This difference in perception and thought has had and continues to have very real environmental and political ramifications, not to mention personal and social consequences. Deloria's Metaphysics adroitly answers the often unasked question: what does an Indian think about the modern world. Vine Deloria Jr. is a leading Native American scholar whose research writings, and teaching have encompassed history, law, religious studies, and political science. He is the former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians. Named by Time magazine as one of the eleven greatest religious thinkers of the twentieth century, he is the author of numerous acclaimed books, including God is Red, Custer Died for Your Sins, Power and Place, and Red Earth, White Lies. David E. Wilkins holds the McKnight Presidential Professorship in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. Daniel R. Wildcat is the director of the American Indian studies program and the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center at Haskell Indian Nations University. The Metaphysics of Modern Existence By Vine Deloria Jr. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2012 Vine Deloria Jr. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-55591-759-3 Contents 1. Foreword, 2. Introduction, 3. A Planet in Transition, 4. Transforming Reality, 5. A Divided Vision, 6. Space-Time, 7. The Process of Life, 8. Whither Evolutionists?, 9. The Structure of Life, 10. Transforming Instincts, 11. The Human Mind, 12. The Quickening Pace, 13. Our Social Groupings, 14. Our Transforming Institutions, 15. Expanding the Legal Universe, 16. The Charismatic Model, 17. Tribal Religious Realities, 18. The Traumatic Planetary Past, 19. Theologians and Scientists, 20. The Future of Theology, 21. The Transformation of Science, 22. The Metaphysics of Modern Existence, 23. Afterword, 24. The Emerging Dissident Literature, 25. Notes, 26. Bibliography, 27. About the Author, CHAPTER 1 A Planet in Transition Throughout most of human history, people have lived as tribal groups in small villages in relatively isolated areas. They have been born, have married, given birth, grown old, and died unaffected by events, beliefs, and developments of other groups of human beings on other parts of the planet. Even the great empires of ancient times — Chinese, Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, and Roman — hailed as magnificent and world encompassing in their heyday, did not affect a significant number of human societies, and they enjoyed decades of prosperity without exploiting more than a tiny percentage of earth's natural wealth. There was no concept of world history aside from the local interpretations of small nation-empires, which saw in their origin and rise to prominence a paradigm for understanding the meaning of human existence. But each in turn suffered a decline and collapse, leaving little more than exotic pottery and massive ruins. A radical transformation of all human societies occurred when the European explorers discovered the Western Hemisphere. Suddenly the scope of planetary existence began to take shape, and the people of Western Europe spread over the globe exploring, colonizing, and finally exploiting the lands and peoples that had formerly lived in relative isolation. European languages replaced tribal languages in many lands, and first French and then English became the tongue of the civilized world, of diplomacy and trade, and finally of the accepted expressions of civilized values. Through the establishment of colonial administrations, Western European political forms were thrust upon non-Western peoples, and Western economic interests came to dominate the economies of other continents. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Earth was conceived as a gigantic garden designed exclusively for the benefit and entertainment of Europeans. Other peoples existed as much for the sake of European tourist visitations as for themselves, and the quaint and exotic seemed to be the only acceptable characterizations of non-Western societies. Because the business of Western Europeans was business, their technology and industrial capabilities became the dominating influences in social and political change throughout the world. Their standard of living became the goal toward which the other peoples of th