The Biophilia Hypothesis
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 1993
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 496
Description: "Biophilia" is the term coined by Edward O. Wilson, author of The Diversity of Life and winner of two Pulitzer prizes, to describe what he believes is our 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. The idea has caught the imagination of diverse thinkers. The Biophilia Hypothesis 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 various 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: people develop fear and even full-blown phobias of snakes and spiders with very little negative reinforcement, while more threatening modern artifacts - knives, guns, automobiles - rarely elicit such a response; people would rather look at water, green vegetation, or flowers than built structures of glass and concrete; and the development of language, myth, and thought appears to be greatly dependent on the use of natural symbols, particularly animals. 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.
Table of contents: label: Prelude
title: “A Siamese Connexion with a Plurality of Other Mortals” / Scott McVay
pagenum: 3; label: Introduction
title: / Stephen R. Kellert
pagenum: 20; title: PART ONE: Clarifying the Concept; label: Chapter 1
title: Biophilia and the Conservation Ethic / Edward O. Wilson
pagenum: 31; label: Chapter 2
title: The Biological Basis for Human Values of Nature / Stephen R. Kelleert
pagenum: 42; title: PART TWO: Affect and Aesthetics; label: Chapter 3
title: Biophilia, Biophobia, and Natural Landscapes / Roger S. Ulrich
pagenum: 73; label: Chapter 4
title: Humans, Habitats, and Aesthetics / Judith H. Heerwagen and Gordon H. Orians
pagenum: 138; label: Chapter 5
title: Dialogue with Animals: Its Nature and Culture / Aaron Katcher and Gregory Wilkins
pagenum: 173; title: PART THREE: Culture; label: Chapter 6
title: Searching for the Lost Arrow: Physical and Spiritual Ecology in the Hunter’s World / Richard Nelson
pagenum: 201; label: Chapter 7
title: The Loss of Floral and Faunal Story: The Extinction of Experience / Gary Paul Nabhan and Sara St. Antoine
pagenum: 229; label: Chapter 8
title: New Guineans and Their Natural World / Jared Diamond
pagenum: 251; title: PART FOUR: Symbolism; label: Chapter 9
title: On Animal Friends / Paul Shepard
pagenum: 275; label: Chapter 10
title: The Sacred Bee, the Filthy Pig, and the Bat Out of Hell: Animal Symbolism as Cognitive Biophilia / Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence
pagenum: 301; title: PART FIVE: Evolution; label: Chapter 11
title: God, Gaia, and Biophilia / Dorion Sagan and Lynn Margulis
pagenum: 345; label: Chapter 12
title: Of Life and Artifacts / Madhav Gadgil
pagenum: 365; title: PART SIX: Ethics and Political Action; label: Chapter 13
title: Biophilia, Selfish Genes, Shared Values / Holmes Rolston III
pagenum: 381; label: Chapter 14
title: Love It or Lose It: The Coming Biophilia Revolution / David W. Orr
pagenum: 415; label: Chapter 15
title: Biophilia: Unanswered Questions / Michael E. Soule
pagenum: 441; label: Coda
title: / Stephen R. Kellert
pagenum: 456; label: About the Contributors
pagenum: 459; label: Index
pagenum: 461