Time and Intimacy : A New Science of Personal Relationships

Description

There is a mysterious connection between our experiences of intimacy - of love, the longing to feel connected, and sexual embrace - and the human sense of time - eternity, impermanence, and rhythm. In this interdisciplinary and critical analysis of the time-intimacy equation, author Joel B. Bennett shows how the scientific study of personal relationships can address this mystery. Dr. Bennett draws from a wide array of resources to advance and marry two compelling themes: first, the social and clinical science of personal relationships should integrate the spiritual or transpersonal dimension of intimacy, and second, science can contribute to lay understandings by describing the richly temporal aspects of relationships. In blending popular literature, transpersonal psychology, and scientific research and theory, this work also attempts to address the lack of dialogue between academics who study personal intimacy and those writers in the popular press who give advice and guidelines for building intimacy. As a study of transpersonal science, this book points to the possible evolution of intimacy and of our consciousness of time, and how the two evolutionary paths weave together. Time and Intimacy is written for a broad audience, and should have appeal outside the offices of researchers alone. Many people who do not normally read academic books will find that it has something compelling to say to them also.