Parallels and Paradoxes in Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism: II — A Sociological Perspective on Parallelism

In this sequel to my paper on the nature and pitfalls of the argument that there are parallels between modern physics and ancient mysticism, I discuss parallelism as a strategy in intellectual conflict. I contrast parallelist and sociological perspective on mysticism, physics, and the relations between physics and mysticism, and sketch the societal and historical contexts of parallelist and antiparallelist arguments. Parallelists, I argue, use the ideas of physics and mysticism as cultural resources in their struggle to organize, preserve, or advance their interests. The paper concludes with a bibliographical essay on the major issues and problems involved in studying the complex relationships between physics and mysticism.