Earth's Insights - by J Baird Callicott (Paperback)

About the Book

Although environmental crisis is global in scope, contemporary environmental ethics is centered predominantly in Western philosophy and religion. EARTH'S INSIGHTS widens the scope to include the ecological teachings embedded in non-Western world views. Conservationist J. Baird Callicott asks how the world's diverse environmental philosophies can be brought together to benefit the whole?

Book Synopsis

The environmental crisis is global in scope, yet contemporary environmental ethics is centered predominantly in Western philosophy and religion. Earth's Insights widens the scope of environmental ethics to include the ecological teachings embedded in non-Western worldviews. J. Baird Callicott ranges broadly, exploring the sacred texts of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism, as well as the oral traditions of Polynesia, North and South America, and Australia. He also documents the attempts of various peoples to put their environmental ethics into practice. Finally, he wrestles with a question of vital importance to all people sharing the fate of this small planet: How can the world's many and diverse environmental philosophies be brought together in a complementary and consistent whole?

From the Back Cover

A lucid, original, and useful work by a fine scholar already well known in the emerging field of environmental philosophy.--David Abram, University of Kansas

About the Author

J. Baird Callicott is Professor of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the Institute of Applied Sciences, University of North Texas, and author of In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental Philosophy (1989).