Ecological Prospects (Scientific Religious, and Aesthetic Perspectives)

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THIS BOOK seeks to address the notion that the living forms of the planetary system we know now as Earth, or Gaia, merit protection. As some of the following essays mention, Western civilization has traditionally regarded the natural world as ripe and ready for use by the human order. We have succeeded all too well at this enterprise, and now we are endangering our own home. The first section of this volume explores the notion that the planet Earth is a complex living system, and that this perception can serve as the basis for a more informed, more life-sensitive science and technology. It also includes a group of essays that weigh the merits and practicality of nature preservation as balanced against human needs. The second section explores the history of an ongoing relationship between humans and the Earth as viewed through the prism of religion and aesthetics, noting that the appreciation for beauty in nature has led to concern for its preservation and continuity.

The environmental movement in this country evolved out of a fascination with the great American wilderness. As it developed, it took on two distinct characteristics, romantic and activist. The early environmental movement was tinged with a romanticized vision of the natural world, familiar to us from the works of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and John Muir. Emerson, the New England transcendentalist, wrote that "Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith."" The activist preservationist position later was undertaken by John Muir, who explored the mountains of California and inspired the American Conservation Movement, which initiated our state and national parks systems.