THE PHILOSOPHY OF G.I.GURDJIEFF Time, Word and Being in All and Everything
180 pages, paperback euro 24.00 Available Now
This book fills a void in studies of Gurdjieff
by focusing exclusively on his written philosophy,
whereas previous books have emphasized his
oral teaching and pedagogical psychology.
It is also the first reading of the three series of Gurdjieff’s All and Everything as an organic whole, tracing
the work’s progressive exposition of an essential
relationship between time, word and being.
As such, Gurdjieff’s exposition of the dynamic interplay
of these concepts address major concerns throughout the
process of Western Philosophy. While Gurdjieff is said to have brought
Eastern Wisdom to Western technological energy, he proves himself
conversant with the major scientific and philosophical issues in both
West and East cultural history.
This study covers Gurdjieff’s concepts of subjective and objective time,
time as energy and time as space. It exposes his exposition of the universality
of semiotic expressions in the arts—dance, theatre, weaving, and writing—
opposing a general devolution of man’s linguistic capacities in mundane social
contexts such as advertising, journalism and business.
His ontology, or science of being, is revealed as issue of the economy
of time and use of languages. The three series of his work—exoteric,
mesoteric and esoteric—develop these ideas incrementally not only in
the context of Western thought but also in the light of Near and Far Eastern wisdom
literature.
How his ideas survive today is the book’s final consideration.
Paul Beekman Taylor, born in London, lived with Gurdjieff as an infant
at the Prieuré and worked with him in 1948 and 1949. He studied in the
United States and Norway before assuming the post of Professor of
Medieval English languages and literatures in Geneva where he now lives.
This book fills a void in studies of Gurdjieff