PHIL 1180 Chapter Notes - Chapter 53: J. Baird Callicott, Atomism
5 May 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
1180 - environmental ethics: baird callicott: the metaphysical implications of ecology. Ecology might have metaphysical implications: ecology has profoundly altered our understanding of the terrestrial environment in which we live. Has made plain that we are enfolded, involved, and engaged within the living environment. Ecology therefore profoundly alters our understanding of ourselves and of human nature: ecology and contemporary physics complement each other conceptually and converge on the same metaphysical notions. Ecology was shaped by complex governing metaphors of minority traditions, including mechanical terms and atomism. Ecology has significant implications for moral psychology: individual organisms are less discrete objects, a difference between self and other is blurred. A sense of self ennobled and extended as a part of the landscape and ecosystem: it becomes impossible to find a clear demarcation between oneself and one"s environment, as the world is one"s extended body.
