| Description |
484 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Biophilia and the conservation ethic / Edward O. Wilson -- The biological basis for human values of nature / Stephen R. Kellert -- Biophilia, biophobia, and natural landscapes / Roger S. Ulrich -- Humans, habitats, and aesthetics / Judith H. Heerwagen, Gordon H. Orians -- Dialogue with animals : its nature and culture / Aaron Katcher, Gregory Wilkins -- Searching for the lost arrow : physical and spiritual ecology in the hunter's world / Richard Nelson -- The loss of floral and faunal story : the extinction of experience / Gary Paul Nabhan, Sara St. Antoine -- New Guineans and their natural world / Jared Diamond -- On animal friends / Paul Shepard -- The sacred bee, the filthy pig, and the bat out of hell : animal symbolism as cognitive biophilia / Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence -- God, gaia, and biophilia / Dorion Sagan, Lynn Margulis -- Of life and artifacts / Madhav Gadgil -- Biophilia, selfish genes, shared values / Holmes Rolston III -- Love it or lose it : the coming biophilia revolution / David W. Orr -- Biophilia : unanswered questions / Michael E. Soule |
| Summary |
"Biophilia" is the term coined by Edward O. Wilson to describe what he believes is humanity's innate affinity for the natural world. In his landmark book Biophilia, he examined how our tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes might be a biologically based need, integral to our development as individuals and as a species. That idea has caught the imagination of diverse thinkers.This book brings together the views of some of the most creative scientists of our time, each attempting to amplify and refine the concept of biophilia. The variety of perspectives -- psychological, biological, cultural, symbolic, and aesthetic -- frame the theoretical issues by presenting empirical evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis. Numerous examples illustrate the idea that biophilia and its converse, biophobia, have a genetic component: fear, and even full-blown phobias of snakes and spiders are quick to develop with very little negative reinforcement, while more threatening modern artifacts -- knives, guns, automobiles -- rarely elicit such a response people find trees that are climbable and have a broad, umbrella-like canopy more attractive than trees without these characteristics people would rather look at water, green vegetation, or flowers than built structures of glass and concrete The biophilia hypothesis, if substantiated, provides a powerful argument for the conservation of biological diversity. More important, it implies serious consequences for our well-being as society becomes further estranged from the natural world. Relentless environmental destruction could have a significant impact on our quality of life, not just materially but psychologically and even spiritually |
| Notes |
"A Shearwater book"--T.p. verso |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Biodiversity conservation -- Philosophy.
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Human ecology -- Philosophy.
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Nature conservation -- Philosophy.
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Philosophy of nature.
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Biodiversity conservation -- Philosophy.
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Human ecology -- Philosophy.
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Nature conservation -- Philosophy.
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Philosophy of nature.
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| Author |
Kellert, Stephen R.
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Wilson, Edward O.
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| LC no. |
93002021 |
| ISBN |
1559631473 (paperback) |
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1559631481 (recycled, acid-free paper) |
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