The Ecological Self - Hardcover

Mathews, Freya

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415052521 ISBN 13: 9780415052528

Publisher: Routledge, 1991

Synopsis

The environmental philosophy that has grown out of the ecological movement has often been accused of providing no rational arguments for the holistic concepts it embraces. This is one of the first book-length treatments of the metaphysical foundations of ecological ethics. The author offers a metaphysical view of the ecological intuition that we are in some sense "one with" nature and that everything is connected with everything else. "The Ecological Self" considers and rejects the dominant atomistic metaphysics implicit in Newtonian physics. By drawing on Einsteinian cosmology, modern systems theory and the philosophy of Spinoza, Freya Mathews is able to elaborate a new "metaphysics of interconnectedness". The work is aimed at those who study environmental philosophy, as well as those wishing to explore how traditional disciplines such as physics and metaphysics can throw light on some areas of the ecological movement.

About this title

Review

This is perhaps the most sophisticated account of the ecological self that we yet have in print. It is a welcome addition to the growing literature in environmental ethics, especially for Mathews' sustained argument that places the intuition of interconnectedness on a solid metaphysical grounding. -- Holmes Rolston III, Colorado State University CHOICE The complexity of Mathews's argument encompasses discussions of cosmology, physics, epistemology, ethics, and the history of philosophy and science. Despite such breadth, Mathews's thesis of 'ecocosm' is clearly formulated and serves as an adequate theoretical base for many popular environmental ethics. CHOICE The complexity of Mathews's argument encompasses discussions of cosmology, physics, epistemology, ethics, and the history of philosophy and science. Despite such breadth, Mathews's thesis of 'ecocosm' is clearly formulated and serves as an adequate theoretical base for many popular environmental ethics. CHOICE This is perhaps the most sophisticated account of the ecological self that we yet have in print. It is a welcome addition to the growing literature in environmental ethics, especially for Mathews' sustained argument that places the intuition of interconnectedness on a solid metaphysical grounding. -- Holmes Rolston III, Colorado State University CHOICE

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415052521
• ISBN 13: 9780415052528
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208