I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon your tribute site while searching for any possible links or studies pertaining to J. N. Findlay. Back in 1977 in my graduate studies days I was preparing to defend a Master's thesis focused on Platonic cosmogony, and in my research, came across the two volumes of Prof. Findlay's Gifford Lectures. His unique and somewhat idiosyncratic modernist reconstruction/revision of the Platonic/Neoplatonic metaphysical orientation was a stimulating and enlightening experience. As well as providing richness of content, the boldness of his philosophical stance was a welcome relief from the majority of doctrinaire reiterations of the fashionable mainstream schools. The mix of phenomenological method, "neo-Neoplatonism," legitimized religious/spiritual experience and sweeping Hegelian perspective certainly is a unique synthesis emerging from an intellectual environment not prone to endorse such a direction.
Admittedly, much of his writing is packed with ideas that require continued deciphering and thoughtful evaluation, but the effort certainly is rewarding. Recently I found an out of print edition of Ascent to the Absolute, which while more diverse in subject matter, amplifies the themes of his Gifford Lectures. It's too bad that he has not been accorded more recognition as an original thinker and that his speculative works are not discussed more pervasively. However, the Gifford Lectures have retained a certain prestige throughout their history, and perhaps the Discipline of the Cave and the Transcendence of the Cave will be revisited and incorporated to some degree in contemporary discourse. I myself am working on a modest project that has been facilitated by ideas and theories of Findlay's that have helped clarify my thoughts and opened up interesting lines of speculation. Again, thanks for the web site, the personal anecdotes, and then overview of his ideas. It's nice to find a current reference about a figure who was markedly influential in my own education.
Regards,
Dr. Arnold Kalnitsky
Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars, August 1, 2007
Dr Kalnitsky subsequently added: As a specialist in the history and philosophy of religion, I'm intrigued at how Findlay dealt so comprehensively with themes that have subsequently appeared in many "new age" and transpersonal contexts - yet is virtually never acknowledged, referred to, or even listed in bibliographies. Even in the more serious thinkers of that genre. I think there are a number of sociological reasons for this - but that's another long and convoluted story. Interestingly, someone like Whitehead has been appropriated by many and used in diverse contexts largely because isolated quotes or portions of theories can be interpreted loosely enough and cloaked in seeming scientific credibility to superficially blend into many tenuous theoeretical constructs. August 4, 2007