The Primordial Bond: Exploring Connections between Man and Nature through the Humanities and Sciences

319 Pages·1981·6.254 MB·English

by  Stephen H. Schneider, Lynne Morton (auth.)

THE
PRIMORDIAL
BOND
Exploring Connections between
Man and Nature through the
Humanities and Sciences
THE
PRIMORDIAL
BOND
Exploring Connections between
Man and Nature through the
Humanities and Sciences
Stephen H. Schneider
and
Lynne Morton
Plenum Press . New York and London
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Schneider, Stephen Henry.
The primordial bond.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Human ecology. 2. Humanities. 3. Science. 4. Philosophy of na
ture. I. Morton, Lynne, joint author. II. Title.
GF50.S36 304.2 80-20376
ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-1059-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-1057-0
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4684-1057-0
© 1981 Stephen H. Schneider and Lynne Morton
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1981
Plenum Press, New York
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written
permission from the Publisher
My interest is in the future because I
am going to spend the rest of my life
there.
-CHARLES F. KETTERING
PREFACE
Does the solution to our energy crisis depend upon the de
velopment of coal, nuclear, solar, or some other energy
source? Are we better off because science and technology
have made us less vulnerable to natural catastrophes? How,
in fact, do we see ourselves now in relation to our natural
world? The answers to these questions lie as much within the
humanities as in the sciences.
Problems as seemingly unrelated as our vulnerability to
OPEC oil price hikes or a smog alert in Los Angeles or Tokyo
often have common, hidden causes. One of these causes is
simply the way our society sees its place in nature. There are
many reasons for the heavy demand for oil. Among these we
vii
viii I PREFACE
can include desire for industrial growth, hopes for improved
living standards, mobility through automobiles and rapid
transportation systems, and, not least, an attempt to loosen
the constraints on man imposed by nature. These constraints
and man's concomitant dependence upon nature are exam
ples of the intense and finely interwoven relationship be
tween man and nature, a relationship that constitutes a pri
mordial bond forged long before the era of modem technology.
Similarly, man has explored this primordial bond through the
humanities for all the centuries prior to our present techno
logical age. As we will see in this exploration, the bond un
derlies many of the environmental and technological prob
lems we have come to label the ecological crisis. It includes
such now "classical" environmental issues as pollution, in
addition to related technological problems of energy, health,
transportation, hunger, and even war and peace. To be sure,
how we see our place in nature is "only" one component of
these issues, but it is a significant aspect.
It is of more than academic interest to trace the impor
tance of our feelings about the primordial bond, for if they
really are, as we intend to prove, among the main determi
nants of the "ecological crisis" (broadly defined), then solu
tions to the crisis will have to recognize and account for these
feelings as well. In order to find solutions, we will need to
search our artistic, literary, religious, and philosophical her
itage for clues to how people have felt about the man/nature
relationship. Then we will need the help of the sciences to
demonstrate what is known about the physical, the biological,
and even the social world in which we live. Finally, we will
confront specific issues of conflict, whose resolution will in
volve choices and actions. Since choices and actions involve
values, we must return again to the humanities, for it is here
that we find numerous offerings to help us interpret our feel-
I
PREFACE ix
ings and so crystallize our values. The varied disciplines of
the humanities and the sciences will be tapped selectively to
help us explore the connections among man, nature, art; sci
ence, and the ecological crisis. Our approach is to combine
technical and ethical judgments into a search for solutions to
pressing environmental and related technological problems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We deeply appreciate the close
working relationship we have enjoyed with our editor, Linda
Greenspan Regan. Her philosophical, substantive, and other
editorial suggestions leave a major imprint on the book. We
also wish to thank Robert Chervin, Robert Chen, Randi Lon
der, Richard Shields Redman, Richard Regan, Allyn Shaloff,
Deborah Feigenbaum, and, in particular, Samuel and Doris
Schneider, and Leonard and Barbara Morton. Cheryl K.
Schneider not only offered timely editorial comments on var
ious manuscript drafts, but also provided considerable typing
help when deadlines were tight. Finally, we appreciate the
efforts of the graphics and photographics people at the Na
tional Center for Atmospheric Research in preparing some
of the illustrations and the general help from Mary Rickel in
tying up a number of loose ends in the process of delivering
the completed manuscript.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 MAN APART? 3
Chapter 2 POETRY AND PLUTONIUM 21
Chapter 3 HUMANISTIC EXPRESSIONS OF CYCLES
IN NATURE 43
Chapter 4 / REACTIONS TO THE PRIMORDIAL BOND
EXPRESSED IN THE HUMANITIES 75
Chapter 5 ANCIENT GREEK NATURAL PHILOSOPHY:
THE BRIDGE TO SCIENCE 123
xi
I
xii CONTENTS
Chapter 6 / WHAT IS SCIENCE? 147
Chapter 7 THE GLOBAL CYCLES OF LIFE 177
Chapter 8 / HUMAN DISRUPTIONS OF THE GLOBAL
CYCLES OF LIFE 243
Chapter 9 THE SOCIAL TITHE 283
REFERENCE NOTES 303
BIBLIOGRAPHY 313
INDEX 317
The first mistake is to think of mankind
as a thing in itself. It isn't. It is part of
an intricate web of life.
-ISAAC ASIMOV