Toward a Transpersonal Ecology

Developing New Foundations for Environmentalism

By Warwick Fox

Subjects: Environmental Philosophy
Paperback : 9780791427767, 400 pages, August 1995
Hardcover : 9780791427750, 400 pages, August 1995

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Table of contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

Part One. Context: Environmentalism, Ecophilosophy, and Anthropocentrism

1. Moving Away from Human Centeredness: From Silent Spring to Deep Ecology

 

The Emergence of the Environmental Movement and Ecophilosophy
A Closer Look at the Issue of Anthropocentrism
Enter the Shallow/Deep Ecology Typology

 

Part Two. The Influence of Deep Ecology

2. Deep Ecology: A Focus within Ecophilosophy--and Beyond

 

The Influence of Deep Ecology upon Academic Ecophilosophy
The Influence beyond Academic Ecophilosophy

 

3. Why So Influential?

 

The Historical Answer
The Advocacy Answer and a Look behind the Scenes
The Substantive Answer

 

Part Three. The Label Deep Ecology: Its Meanings and Shortcomings

4. Arne Naess and the Meanings of Deep Ecology

 

Arne Naess
Naess's Formal Sense of Deep Ecology
Naess's Philosophical Sense of Deep Ecology

 

5. The Problem with the Label Deep Ecology

 

The Perceived Problem
The Failure of Deep Ecologists to Forestall the Perceived Problem
The "Fundamental" Problem
Farewell to Deep Ecology

 

Part Four. Toward a Transpersonal Ecology: Drawing Out What is Tenable and Distinctive about the Deep Ecology Approach to Ecophilosophy

6. The Most Widely Recognized Approaches to Ecophilosophy

 

Instrumental Value Theory
Intrinsic Value Theory
Objections to Intrinsic Value Theory Approaches

 

7. Transpersonal Ecology as a Distinctive Approach to Ecophilosophy

 

Transpersonal Ecology and Transpersonal Psychology
Psychologizing Ecophilosophy
The Distinctiveness of the Transpersonal Ecology Approach to Ecophilosophy
Proof, Moral Injunctions, and Experiential Invitations

 

8. Transpersonal Ecology and the Varieties of Identification

 

Three Bases of Identification
Identification, Delusion, and Enlightenment

 

Appendix A: A Guide to the Primary Sources on Deep Ecology Published during the 1980s

Appendix B: The Emergence of Transpersonal Psychology

Notes
Further Reading
Index

Warwick Fox is Australian Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania.

Reviews

"This is the best book on deep ecology that I've come across in years. Anyone interested in the relationship of human beings to the environment ought to read this book. " — Paul R. Ehrlich, co-author of The Population Explosion

"Toward a Transpersonal Ecology is essential reading for teachers, scholars, and all people concerned with the fate of the earth. It is an excellent book that will be used as a benchmark for all discussions of environmental philosophy in the 1990s. " — Bill Devall, co-author of Deep Ecology

"Ecology and spirituality are fundamentally connected, because deep ecological awareness, ultimately, is spiritual awareness. The common ground between deep ecology and transpersonal psychology arising from this connection is explored in scholarly fashion and with great clarity in this important book. Warwick Fox offers us not only some very original and provocative ideas, but also an almost encyclopedic overview of the entire field. Toward a Transpersonal Ecology is essential reading for everyone seriously interested in the philosophical foundations of the emerging new paradigm. " — Fritjof Capra, author of the The Tao of Physics, and founder of The Elmwood Institute

"Toward a Transpersonal Ecology is a pioneering work that brings together two of the most important disciplines of our time, transpersonal psychology and ecology. Warwick Fox's wide reading, thoughtfulness, and subtle distinctions will give readers much to think about. " — Roger Walsh, author of Staying Alive: The Psychology of Human Survival

"Toward a Transpersonal Ecology is a pioneering work that brings together two of the most important disciplines of our time, transpersonal psychology and ecology. Warwick Fox's wide reading, thoughtfulness, and subtle distinctions will give readers much to think about. " — Roger Walsh, author of Staying Alive: The Psychology of Human Survival

"As a leading deep ecology scholar, Warwick Fox provides the most comprehensive and detailed examination of the development of philosophical deep ecology yet in print. " — George Sessions, co-author of Deep Ecology

"The best and most comprehensive overview of deep ecology yet written. I urge environmental philosophers and everyone else with a concern for the relation of humans to the Earth to seek it out. " — Alastair Gunn, Environmental Ethics