The Cycle of Life:
An History of Experimental Ecology

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Michael Tobias, ed., Deep Ecology (San Diego, CA: Avant Books, 1984)

In his introduction to Deep Ecology, Michael Tobias that deep ecology strives to understand an inherent contradiction in our appraisal of the natural world--we passionately identify with nature and simultaneously exploit it. In Paleolithic times artisans recorded the details of of death and resurrection in their cave paintings; in later Egyptian, Greek times man and nature were synthesized in their Gods. By the 18th century the Gods left nature to mankind--creating land speculators and real estate moguls. In his 19th century critique of capitalism, Karl Marx equated the exploitation of labor with the exploitation of nature; and George Marsh warned that a public disconnect with nature would lead to the downfall of American society. In the 20th century, this ecological schism has led to a conservation movement that attempts to redress human nature gone awry. In a shallow way it works to preserve nature for human use; in its deep counterpart--deep ecology it encompasses personal moods, values, and aesthetic and philosophical convictions which serve no utilitarian or rational end.

Lloyd Ackert
Whitney Humanities Center
Yale University
53 Wall Street
P.O. Box 208298
New Haven, CT 06520
Office: (203).432.3112

lloydackert@sbcglobal.net
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