Elisabet Sahtouris

{{newage}}
'''Elisabet Sahtouris''' is a [[Greece|Greek]]-[[United States|American]] [[evolutionary biologist]] and author known for promoting a radical version of the [[Gaia hypothesis]].

==Biography==
Sahtouris is the author of a book titled ''Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution''<ref>[http://www.ratical.org/LifeWeb/Erthdnce/ EarthDance by Elisabet Sahtouris ]</ref> which argues that the [[earth]] should be viewed as a living system. She was influenced by the [[Gaia hypothesis]] of {{wpl|James Lovelock|James Lovelock}} and is critical of what she terms "mechanical science." She also rejects [[reductionism]] which she believes should be replaced with "holistic" science.<ref>[http://www.ratical.org/LifeWeb/Erthdnce/foreword.html Foreword to her book EarthDance]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060327172935/http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/sahtouris.html From Mechanics to Organics: An Interview with Elisabet Sahtouris By Scott London]</ref>

According to Sahtouris life has always existed and that life can not come from "non-life". She has written that the entire cosmos is alive and a self-organizing living system. She has also proposed a more radical version of the Gaia hypothesis by claiming Gaia itself has [[consciousness]] and intelligence. Sahtouris also proposes a version of [[panpsychism]] where everything including all matter has consciousness. She also writes that cells have consciousness and can direct [[evolution]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010223091633/http://www.mkzdk.org/es/interviewes2.html Elisabet Sahtouris, interviewed by SM for MkzdK, Part One]</ref> According to Sahtouris:

{{cquote|What I see happening... is recognition of consciousness/intelligence at the molecular level creeping into microbiology just as the notion of Earth as alive (conscious and intelligent in its own right) is sneaking up on systems theorists in macrobiology. In my own opinion, the universe, like any living system, operates on conscious micro and macro levels at once. This is, of course, still pretty heretical, but I venture to say it will not be for long.<ref>See Interview</ref>}}

In her book ''[[Biology Revisioned]]'' and more recent articles Sahtouris has advocated the concept of Autopoiesis (continuous self-creation) which she believes is the best way to define [[life]] as everything from "galaxies, stars, planets, organisms, cells and molecules" all fit this definition and that this implies that life is the fundamental process of the cosmos which is a "self-creating living whole with self-creating living components in co-creative interaction." She has also written that [[consciousness]] has existed before [[matter]] and that it is fundamental in the cosmos.<ref>[http://www.sahtouris.com/pdfs/MindBeforeMatterChapter.pdf Prologue to a New Model of a Living Universe]</ref>

==Reception==
Even though Sahtouris is a well qualified scientist, in some of her books she has attempted to mix [[spirituality]] and [[religious]] themes with biology, which opens her to claims of promoting [[pseudoscience]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150415184313/http://newdimensions.org/program-archive/turning-crises-into-wisdom-with-elisabet-sahtouris/ Turning Crises Into Wisdom with Elisabet Sahtouris]</ref> She is often supported by [[New age]]rs and advocates of "PaGaian Cosmology".<ref>[http://pagaian.org/essays/gaia-dynamic-place-of-being GAIA: Dynamic Place of Being]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150415184317/http://www.insidebainbridge.com/tag/elisabet-sahtouris/ Living By Design: Principles for Designing Earth Communities]</ref> Advocates of "Green spirituality" and radical [[environmentalism]] also support her books.<ref>[http://www.birdtribes.net/sustainabilityandgaia.htm Sustainability and Gaia]</ref>

Sahtouris is also a [[feminist]] who believes that the Gaia earth is an "earth Goddess" and that many humans have become disconnected from it. She is a holist and believes all science should be based on a holistic outlook without any form of [[reductionism]] and blames recent western science for ignoring the holistic outlook of the ancients.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150415184305/http://earthwisdomstories.com/essays/node/18 Earth as Gaia, A Living Goddess ]</ref><ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5943088 Review of Gaia:The Human Journey from Chaos to Cosmos]</ref>

==External links==
*[http://ratical.org/LifeWeb/ Life Web by Elisabet Sahtouris]

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahtouris, Elisabet}}

[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:Biologists]]
[[Category:New Age]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Authors, Feminists, Biologists, New Age, Pseudoscience promoters, Living people