Earth's Insights: A Multicultural Survey of Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback

by J. Baird Callicott, Tom Hayden (Foreword)

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 How can the world's many and diverse environmental philosophies be brought together in a complementary and consistent whole?

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Environment, Nature

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

J. Baird Callicott is an American philosopher whose work has been at the forefront of the new field of environmental philosophy and ethics. He is a University Distinguished Research Professor and a member of the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies and the Institute of Applied Sciences at the University of North Texas. Callicott held the position of Professor of Philosophy and Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point from 1969 to 1995, where he taught the world’s first course in environmental ethics in 1971. From 1994 to 2000, he served as Vice President then President of the International Society for Environmental Ethics. Other distinguished positions include visiting professor of philosophy at Yale University; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of Hawai’i; and the University of Florida.

Reviews

[James Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternates between being a difficult and an easy read. Several sections (the ones on Indian and Southeast Asian religion and thought traditions) were very difficult, and presupposed a lot of knowledge on the subject. The sections on American, African, and Austronesian environmental thought were written a lot simpler and much easier to read.

Overall, lots of interesting insights, if you can get through the challenging sections.