Publisher's Synopsis
This book identifies the land ethic as the best candidate for an environmental ethic. The land ethic is a secular, nonanthropocentric, holistic-ecocentric environmental ethic that was initially conceptualized by the naturalist, Aldo Leopold, and later historically expanded and conceptually developed by the philosopher, J. Baird Callicott. The land ethic is grounded in the science of ecology and evolutionary biology. The main purpose of this book, however, is not to specifically justify the advancement of the land ethic, but rather to evaluate whether it can be embraced by Catholicism. Meaning, are the scientific, conceptual, and logical foundations of the land ethic conducive with Catholic theology? The hypothesis of this book is that Catholicism does have adequate scientific, philosophical, and theological foundations to embrace the land ethic as a viable environmental ethic. In this book, the Catholic Magisterium's perspective on the environmental crisis is evaluated through the review of pertinent Church documents and writings. Principally, the Church's implicit theology of the cosmic Christ is thoroughly evaluated and, then, expanded to an explicit cosmic christology as conceptualized in the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and other Catholic theologians and scientists. This conceptualized cosmic christology (presented as compatible with ecology and Catholic doctrine) could function-in the context of the ongoing environmental crisis-as a Christian panentheistic ecocentrism (with an accompanying eschatology of hope) that is fairly compatible with the holistic-nonanthropocentric ecocentrism of the land ethic. Despite the title's cosmic implications, this book does not directly promote the contemporary New Age movements nor their associated beliefs. It, also, does not promote creationism, Intelligent Design Theory or any other theories, which regard contemporary evolutionary biology as completely fallacious. This book recognizes the validity of ecology within its scientific context. At the same time, it also recognizes that one can potentially acquire a much deeper understanding of the ecological reality of life from a religious perspective. This book is not evangelical, though, at times, it attempts to be persuasive in absence of scientific evidence, which is often the case when dealing with the subjectivity of religion and environmental ethics. Defining the intrinsic value of the natural environment is extremely difficult and complicated-scientifically unapproachable. Yet, even though the reality of the world's beauty transcends scientific understanding, it inspires humanity to pursue its mystery and preserve its integrity.
