Towards a Transpersonal History of the Search for Peace 1945-2001

This thesis contributes to the intellectual history of the period from 1945-2001 in the specific regard of the search for peace, among selected groups of intellectuals, academics and thinkers, during the cold war epoch. It concerns itself both with the quest for peace in relation to that complex, global, bipolar conflict, and also more generally. It examines this search in 4 specific fields of knowledge, namely historiography, philosophy, religious studies and theology, and psychology. The thesis also highlights a methodological lacuna that emerged during the course of the research. It was felt that a new meta-historical discipline, transpersonal history, might assist the work of trying to make sense of our epoch and, particularly, provide a useful historical special sub-discipline, which might hopefully help shed light on the causes of religious and inter-cultural conflicts, and their possible resolutions, in the post 9/11 world.