Kinship to Mastery

by Stephen R. Kellert

A skillful elaboration of the notion of biophilia the idea that humans are part of evolution and, therefore, possess a basic biological attraction to nature arguing that this affinity and its expression affects quality of life. Kellert (forestry and environmental studies, Yale U.) demonstrates human connections with nature, discussing the material necessities which the natural world provide and also less substantial contributions to intellectual capacity, emotional bonding, aesthetic attraction, creativity, imagination, and the recognition of a purposeful existence. These expressions of biophilia, the author argues, are integral to overall health, and the ongoing degradation of the environment might have consequences that people have not yet considered. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: Ecology

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. "Kinship and Mastery" is the work of Yale Environment professor Stephen Kellert, and one would think that a Yale professor would write a book of profound ideas and intellectual rigor. But you find none of that in this book. This book is about a concept called "biophilia", which is a fancy term for the love of living things. As Kellert describes it, this new term may very well be a synonym for the ancient concept of pantheism, which is the belief that God is nature and nature is God. If this were a book about pantheism, it would be a lot more interesting than "Kinship and Mastery". "Kinship and Mastery" lacks any semblance to a scientific work.

Kellert's main thesis in this book are the following three points 1) that human beings love nature, 2) that natural products make a huge contribution to the human economy, and 3) that the welfare of human beings depends largely on nature. The problem that I have with his theory is that it is a case of expounding on the obvious. It is like writing a book about how water is wet or fire is hot. I have never come across anyone who thinks that people hate nature, or that natural resources do not benefit manking economically, or that people are not affected by nature. Seriously, if any of you know of an author who disagrees with Kellert, please let me know because I would love to read that book. So, basically this is a book that expounds on a tautology, and expresses ideas that are obvious to everyone. Kellert embellishes his narrative with references to scientific articles, and he includes short stories to illustrate his points. Kellert uses lots of technical scientific language to disguise the silliness of his points. If one were to strip away the scientific jargon and the technical references, this book could very well have been a 5th grade essay on how the outdoors are really cool and people should take care of the environment. The level of Kellert's reasoning is about the level of a 10 year old even if he throws in Graduate level jargon.

The last couple of chapters of this book contain the obligatory warnings that every environmentalist loves to tell us - that the earth is becoming a festering toxic waste dump and soon all wildlife will die an ugly death. Such warnings were de rigeur in the 70s, but by the time this book was written in 1996, most of those warnings had been disproven. Still, Kellert feel compelled to repeat them to the reader. I would be annoyed by this, except that this is the only part of the book that shows any kind of propensity to make a point. From that perspective, the tired warnings are downright refreshing.

"Kinship and Mastery" is an intellectual scam, and you would do well to avoid it. It is a waste of your time and attention. Fortunately, as I see from the number of people who have reviewed this book, very few people have wasted their time with this thing.