About the Author:
Peter Marshall , Ph.D., is a philosopher, traveller, and full-time writer. He has a doctorate in the History of Ideas, and has taught philosophy and literature at several British universities.
Review:
In this encyclopedic book, British educator Marshall explores the ideas regarding humanity's place in nature embodied in major religions and philosophies as well as the challenge to traditional anthropocentric world views offered by contemporary environmental ethics. He begins with ancient cultures and proceeds chronologically through the rise of scientific thought, the Enlightenment, and the Romantic Movement to our current ecological crisis. Marshall devotes separate sections to individual philosophers, scientists, and environmentalists, summarizing their ideas and commenting on how these relate to his overall theme of humankind as an integral part of nature's nonhierarchical web of being. In the closing chapters, Marshall presents his own philosophy of libertarian ecology. There is a wealth of information here, yet it is difficult to determine the audience to whom it might appeal. Scholars will find Marshall's analyses too cursory to support the certainty of his observations. Readers without an extensive background in the history of ideas may be overwhelmed by a text that rushes forward from one topic to the next, cramming difficult concepts and unfamiliar terms into a few pages or paragraphs. While some academic libraries might want this for its comprehensiveness, this is not an essential purchase for most collections.-Joan S. Elbers, formerly with Montgomery Coll., Rockville, Md. (Library Journal)
In this compelling search for a new environmental ethic, Marshall ( Demanding the Impossible: The History of Anarchism ) traces the development of human attitudes about nature from ancient times to the present. He notes that ecological thinking draws on science as well as philosophy and religion. In the first section, Marshall examines major religions--Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam--and their views of and effect on nature. In the second section, he turns to the scientific and industrial revolutions that changed our perceptions of the universe. Finally, Marshall surveys facets of today's ecological movements, including deep ecology, social ecology, eco-feminism. He calls for a libertarian ecology that demonstrates reverence for life and its diversities. A sound environmental ethic, he observes, requires imagination to appreciate the needs of other beings and things. (Publishers Weekly)
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