Synopses & Reviews
Review
"An important book for those interested in environmental philosophy." --F.T. Kuserk, Moravian College, in
Choice"...Editor David Macauley provides an excellent introduction that summarizes the articles and serves as a guide to the readings. All of the articles are well organized and well written; all are heavily documented, and the citations are excellent bibliographic resources." --James Riley Chrisman, Black Hills State University, Science Books and Films
"It is good to have these great philosophers cast, as they so rarely are, in a clear ecological light. It helps not only to understand their work in a fresh new way but to realize how in a sense all important philosophy in this age can best be seen as a branch of the study of nature itself." --Kirkpatrick Sale, author of The Green Revolution : The American Environmental Movement 1962-92 and Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision
"In Minding Nature, David Macauley has done a great service by bringing together a wide range of critical commentary on the most developed modern philosophical positions concerning the relations between humanity and nature. The collection is unique and of great scholarly value. However, its importance transcends a merely academic interest. For these are shoulders to stand upon if we are to envision a way out of the ecological crisis that threatens to destroy civilization and lay waste to the earth." --Joel Kovel, Bard College
"Minding Nature provides a fascinating study of how major philosophers from Hobbes to Arendt have viewed nature, and clearly articulates the social and human implications of their ideas. This lucid, original, and insightful collection of essays not only casts new light on each thinker, it reminds us that visions of nature are also visions of what it means to be human. Highly recommended for advanced courses in philosophy, political theory, intellectual history, and ecology." --Roger W. Smith, Ph.D., Professor of Government, College of William and Mary
"This book is a welcome contribution to the ongoing project of recognizing nature as an essential element in critical social theory. Each of these essays discusses important thinkers from perspectives which acknowledge the depths of our ecological crisis. They help meet our need to develop a new politics of nature." --Andrew McLaughlin, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Lehman College, City University of New York
"Makes an important contribution to ecological social theory. It distinguishes itself by the unusual abundance of careful analysis, erudition, and critical thought exhibited in the diverse essays. The work will help give a sounder philosophical grounding to many of the debates in contemporary Green political thought." --John P. Clark, Philosophy & Environmental Studies, Loyola University
"...a very welcome work that helps expand the context of discussion in contemporary ecological philosophy...One of the strengths of the book is its grounding in the history of philosophy....makes a very valuable contribution to deepening and broadening the scope of ecological philosophy in general and political ecology in particular." --John Clark, Environmental Ethics
Review
"....Provides a solid overview of ecological philosophy and original insights into a developing field of philosophical inquiry....Individually, these essays provide new perspectives on major philosophers and social thinkers. Taken together, they shed new light on the relationship between ecology, political economy, and social theory. Minding Nature would make a superlative addition to any philosophy or ecological studies reading list!"--Wisconsin Bookwatch
Review
"An important book for those interested in environmental philosophy."--Choice
Synopsis
Philosophers, Henri Bergson once observed, "seem to philosophize as if they were sealed in the privacy of their study and did not live on a planet surrounded by the vast organic world of animals, plants, insects, and protozoa". Providing a solid overview of ecological philosophy and original insights into this developing field, Minding Nature focuses on some of the most influential thinkers who have emphasized our natural relations to the earth, our social creations, and each other. Combining philosophy, ecology, and political theory, the book critiques and builds upon the ideas of such luminaries as Thomas Hobbes, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Bloch, Hannah Arendt, Herbert Marcuse, Barry Commoner, Rachel Carson, and Jurgen Habermas, among others. Individually, these essays provide new perspectives on major philosophers and social thinkers. Taken together, they shed new light on the relationship between ecology, political economy, and social theory.
Synopsis
This volume examines the works of some of the most influential Western philosophers of ecology, tracing their influence on movements including deep ecology, ecological feminism, bioregionalism, and critical postmodern ecology. Leading authorities examine, critique, and build on the insights of thinkers such as Hobbes, Heidegger, Bloch, Jonas, Mumford, Ehrlich, and Bookchin. Topics discussed include the claims and merits of anthropocentric, biocentric, and ecocentric positions; rationality and its relationship to knowledge, technology, and social change; and what our conceptions of nature tell us about our vision of politics and society.
Synopsis
Philosophers, Henri Bergson once observed, "seem to philosophize as if they were sealed in the privacy of their study and did not live on a planet surrounded by the vast organic world of animals, plants, insects, and protozoa." Providing a solid overview of ecological philosophy and original insights into this developing field, Minding Nature focuses on some of the most influential thinkers who, in fact, have emphasized our natural relations to the earth, our social creations, and each other.
Combining philosophy, ecology, and political theory, chapters thoroughly examine, critique, and build upon the ideas of such luminaries as Thomas Hobbes, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Bloch, Hannah Arendt, Herbert Marcuse, Barry Commoner, Rachel Carson, and Jürgen Habermas, among others. Each thinker considered has contributed significantly to both contemporary discussion and historical understanding of political, epistemological, or social aspects related to nature and, with several exceptions, stimulated constructive dialogue within progressive, democratic, and radical left circles. By challenging the notion that conservation is inherently politically conservative or that our oikos (home) must be rendered uniformly economic where ecology is concerned, they enable us to rethink the possibility of creating a more democratic and ecological society.
About the Author
David Macauley teaches philosophy and literature classes at several colleges in New York City. He has published numerous articles on ecology, political theory, and philosophy and is completing his doctorate in philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Greening Philosophy and Democratizing Ecology, David Macauley
1. Nature as Artifact: Thomas Hobbes, the Bible, and Modernity, Frank Coleman
2. Charles Fourier: Proto-Red-Green, Joan Roelofs
3. Martin Heidegger: Antinaturalistic Critic of Technological Modernity, Michael E. Zimmerman
4. Merleau-Ponty and the Voice of the Earth, David Abram
5. Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Place: From Earth Alienation to Oikos, David Macauley
6. Ernst Bloch, Natural Rights, and the Greens, John Ely
7. The Outcry of Mute Things: Hans Jonas's Imperative of Responsibility, Lawrence Vogel
8. Domination and Utopia: Marcuse's Discourse on Nature, Psyche, and Culture, Henry T. Blanke
9. Lewis Mumford, The Forgotten American Environmentalist: An Essay in
Rehabilitation, Ramachandra Guha
10. Change and Continuity in Environmental World-View: The Politics of Nature in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Yaakov Garb
11. The Commoner Ehrlich Debate: Environmentalism and the Politics of Survival, Andrew Feenberg
12. The Problem of Nature in the Work of Jürgen Habermas, Joel Whitebook
13. Social Ecology and Social Labor: A Consideration and Critique of Murray Bookchin, Alan Rudy and Andrew Light