The Greeks and the Environment

by Westra, Laura; Robinson, Thomas M.; Adams, Madonna R.; Blakeley, Donald N.; DeMarco, C W.; Goldin, Owen; Holland, Alan; Mahoney, Timothy A.; Matten, Mohan; Oelschlaeger, M; Preus, Anthony; Rist, J M.; Robinson, T M.; Shearman, Richard; Tress, Daryl McGowa

• ISBN13: 9780847684465
• ISBN10: 0847684466
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-04-30
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Environmental ethicists have frequently criticized ancient Greek philosophy as anti-environmental for a view of philosophy that is counterproductive to environmental ethics and a view of the world that puts nature at the disposal of people. This provocative collection of original essays reexamines the views of nature and ecology found in the thought of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and Plotinus. Recognizing that these thinkers were not confronted with the environmental degradation that threatens contemporary philosophers, the contributors to this book find that the Greeks nevertheless provide an excellent foundation for a sound theory of environmentalism.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction	p. 3
Some Ancient Ecological Myths and Metaphors	p. 11
Why Greek Philosophers Might Have Been Concerned about the Environment	p. 19
The Philosophical Genesis of Ecology and Environmentalism	p. 33
Platonic Ecology, Deep Ecology	p. 45
Environmental Ethics in Plato's Timaeus	p. 55
The Ecology of the Critias and Platonic Metaphysics	p. 73
Aristotelian Roots of Ecology: Causality, Complex Systems Theory, and Integrity	p. 83
The Greening of Aristotle	p. 99
Self-Love and the Virtue of Species Preservation in Aristotle	p. 121
The Organic Unity of Aristotle's World	p. 133
Fortitude and Tragedy: The Prospects for a Stoic Environmentalism	p. 151
Plotinus as Environmentalist?	p. 167
Notes	p. 185
Index	p. 217
About the Contributors	p. 229
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