From Biophilia to Cosmophilia
The Role of Biological and Physical Sciences in Promoting Sustainability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v4i1.7Keywords:
sustainability, science and religion, quantum entanglementAbstract
Ideas from the life sciences and the physical sciences, particularly the ideas that ecosystems, the planet itself, and eventhecosmosareinterconnectedand ‘organismic’, have influenced the development of sustainability discourse.Sustainability advocates strategically deploy such scientific concepts through subtly spiritualized language and metaphors to advance their arguments. Even when the language of sustainability advocacy is not explicitly religious, it reflects core values and deep beliefs of particular individuals, communities, or groups. In such cases, sustainability movements derive their power by following a neo-religious narrative, and when deployed in the public sphere, such narratives are performing religious work.
References
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———. 2004. The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living (New York: Anchor).
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———. 2005. ‘Introduction and Reader's Guide’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: vii-xxi.
———. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Religion and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Taylor, B. (ed.). 2005. Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (London: Continuum).
von Bertalanffy, L. 1969. General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications (New York: George Braziller).
Wilson, E.O. 1978. On Human Nature (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
———. 1984. Biophilia (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
———. 1998. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Knopf, distributed by Random House).
———. 2006. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth (New York: Norton).
Wiseman, G. 2005. ‘The Palme Commission: New Thinking About Security’, in R. Thakur, A. Cooper, and J. English (eds.), International Commissions and the Power of Ideas (Tokyo: United Nations University Press): 46-75.
World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED]. 1987. Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Worster, D. 1985 (1977). Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Zimmerman, M.E. 1995 [1988]. ‘Quantum Theory, Intrinsic Value, and Panentheism’, in M. Oelschlaeger (ed.), Postmodern Environmental Ethics (Albany: State University of New York Press): 277-307.
Bekoff, M. 2007. The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow and Empathy—and Why They Matter (Novato: New World Library).
Berkes, F. 2008 [1999]. Sacred Ecology (New York: Routledge).
Bohm, D. 2002 [1980]. Wholeness and the Implicate Order (London: Routledge).
———. 1993. The Undivided Universe (New York: Routledge).
Callicott, J.B. 1985. ‘Intrinsic Value, Quantum Theory, and Environmental Ethics’, Environmental Ethics 7: 257-75.
Campell, C. 1972. ‘The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization’, A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain 5: 119-36.
Capra, F. 1984 [1975]. The Tao of Physics (Boulder, CO: Shambhala).
———. 2004. The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living (New York: Anchor).
Chidester, D. 2005. Authentic Fakes (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Dowd, M. 2009. Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Change Your Life and Save Our World (New York: Plume).
Ehrlich, P., and A. Ehrlich. 1981. Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of Species Disappearance (New York: Random House).
Einstein, A., B. Podolsky, and N. Rosen. 1983 [1935]. ‘Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Reality be Considered Complete?’, in J.A. Wheeler and W.H. Zurek (eds.), Quantum Theory and Measurement (Princeton: Princeton University Press): 139-41.
Fiege, M. 2007. ‘The Atomic Scientists, the Sense of Wonder, and the Bomb’, Environmental History 12: 578-613.
Gottlieb, R. 2006. A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future (New York: Oxford University Press).
Hart, J. 2005. ‘World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (Kari Oca, Brazil)’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: 1763-65.
Hawken, P. 2007. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming (New York: Viking).
Kellert, S. 1993. ‘Introduction’, in Kellert and Wilson 1993: 20-27.
———. 2005. ‘Biophilia’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: 183-88.
Kellert, S.R., and T.J. Farnham (eds.). 2002. The Good in Nature and Humanity: Connecting Science, Religion, and Spirituality (Washington, DC: Island Press).
Kellert, S.R., and E.O. Wilson (eds.). 1993. The Biophilia Hypothesis (Washington, DC: Island Press).
Killingsworth, J., and J. Palmer. 1991. Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press).
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Lovelock, J. 1979. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
———. 2005. ‘Gaian Pilgrimage’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: 683-85.
———. 2007. Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity (New York: Basic Books).
Lovins, A., and L.H. Lovins. 1980. Energy War: Breaking the Nuclear Link (London: Friends of the Earth).
Lovins, L.H., and A. Lovins. 1982. Brittle Power: Energy Policy for National Security (Andover, MA: Brick House).
Macy, J. 1983. Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age (Philadelphia: New Society).
McVay, S. 1993. ‘Prelude: A Siamese Connexion with a Plurality of Other Mortals’, in Kellert and Wilson 1993: 3-19.
Meine, C. 2005. ‘Leopold, Aldo’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: 1005-1007.
Monaghan, P. 2005. ‘Gaia’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: 679-80.
Myers, N. 1979. The Sinking Ark (Oxford: Pergamon Press).
Naess, A. 1973. ‘The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary’, Inquiry 16: 95-100. doi:10.1080/00201747308601682.
Northwest Earth Institute [NWEI]. 2007. Global Warming: Changing CO2urse (Portland: Northwest Earth Institute).
Odum, H.T. 1971. Environment, Power, and Society (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons).
O’Riordan, T. 2002. ‘Protecting Beyond the Protected’, in T. O’Riordan and S. Stoll-Kleemann (eds.), Biodiversity, Sustainability and Human Communities (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 3-29. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511492655.002.
Patten, C. (ed.). 2000. Respect for the Earth: Sustainable Development (London: Pro_le Books).
Rolston III, H. 1993. ‘Biophilia, Sel_sh Genes, Shared Values’, Kellert and Wilson 1993: 381-414.
Sideris, L.H., and K.D. Moore. 2007. Rachel Carson: Legacy and Challenge (Albany: State University of New York Press).
Swimme, B., and T. Berry. 1992. The Universe Story (New York: HarperCollins).
Takacs, D. 1996. The Idea of Biodiversity (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press).
Taylor, B. 2004. ‘A Green Future for Religion?’, Futures 36: 991-1008. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2004.02.011.
———. 2005. ‘Introduction and Reader's Guide’, in Taylor (ed.) 2005: vii-xxi.
———. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Religion and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Taylor, B. (ed.). 2005. Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (London: Continuum).
von Bertalanffy, L. 1969. General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications (New York: George Braziller).
Wilson, E.O. 1978. On Human Nature (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
———. 1984. Biophilia (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
———. 1998. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Knopf, distributed by Random House).
———. 2006. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth (New York: Norton).
Wiseman, G. 2005. ‘The Palme Commission: New Thinking About Security’, in R. Thakur, A. Cooper, and J. English (eds.), International Commissions and the Power of Ideas (Tokyo: United Nations University Press): 46-75.
World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED]. 1987. Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Worster, D. 1985 (1977). Nature’s Economy: A History of Ecological Ideas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Zimmerman, M.E. 1995 [1988]. ‘Quantum Theory, Intrinsic Value, and Panentheism’, in M. Oelschlaeger (ed.), Postmodern Environmental Ethics (Albany: State University of New York Press): 277-307.
Published
2010-03-19
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Johnston, L. F. (2010). From Biophilia to Cosmophilia: The Role of Biological and Physical Sciences in Promoting Sustainability. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 4(1), 7-23. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v4i1.7
