A Kind of Pantheism: Escape from Cosmic Pessimism and the Quest for a Biocentric Ethic explores how such nineteenth-century transcendentalists as Henry David Thoreau and John Muir advanced a biocentric ethic that recognized the intrinsic worth of both plants and animals. This ethic required a pantheistic cosmology to be coherent, however. As science progressed, with developments in evolutionary biology and ecology, the paths of environmental ethics and animal rights diverged. But at the turn of the twentieth century, the nature writer Joseph Wood Krutch, inspired by quantum theory, provided a crucial link that reconnected these fields—a contribution often overlooked even by his own biographers.
This book traces the historical development of humanity's attitudes toward the non-human world, highlighting the influence of philosophical, religious, and scientific ideas. In addition to Krutch, it brings attention to such lesser-known figures as Henry Stephens Salt and John Howard Moore, emphasizing their roles in shaping biocentric thought. Ultimately, the book argues that animal rights and environmental ethics are two expressions of the same biocentric outlook. By focusing on Krutch's unique contribution, the book offers a way for secular thinkers to reclaim a pantheistic ethic. In the process, A Kind of Pantheism solves the problem of "cosmic pessimism"—which postulates the cold and meaningless universe implied by modern science, a concept that often undercuts the very ethic it suggests. Through the process of free inquiry, new answers emerge.
eBook - ePub
A Kind of Pantheism
Escape from Cosmic Pessimism and the Quest for a Biocentric Ethic
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eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction: Cosmic Pessimism
- Chapter 1: Fill the Earth and Subdue
- Chapter 2: City Upon a Hill
- Chapter 3: Heaven Is Under Our Feet
- Chapter 4: The Wild Beast and Lord Man
- Chapter 5: The Subversive Science
- Chapter 6: Against Tyranny Towards Any Brute
- Chapter 7: A Matter of Degree
- Chapter 8: The Very Worst Evil
- Chapter 9: Philosophically False and Morally Pernicious
- Chapter 10: Seventy Years Among Savages
- Chapter 11: Solidarity of the Sentient
- Chapter 12: The Dead Level of the Machine
- Chapter 13: Between a Sanctuary and a Slag-heap
- Chapter 14: An Exhibition of Savagery
- Chapter 15: There is No God but Gasoline
- Chapter 16: The World’s Most Penetrating Minds
- Chapter 17: That Certain Quality
- Chapter 18: What is a Weed?
- Chapter 19: Holistic With A Vengeance
- Chapter 20: Freedom for What?
- Chapter 21: A Kind of Pantheism
- Chapter 22: Minimal Man
- Chapter 23: The Most Absolute of all Deaths
- Chapter 24: One Vast Fellowship
- Conclusion: Abler and More Sophisticated Men
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
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Yes, you can access A Kind of Pantheism by Gregory Novak in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Transcendentalism in Philosophy. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.