Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia In Human Evolution And Development - Softcover

Kellert, Stephen R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1559633735 ISBN 13: 9781559633734

Publisher: Island Press, 2003

Synopsis

Kinship to Mastery is a fascinating and accessible exploration of the notion of biophilia -- the idea that humans, having evolved with the rest of creation, possess a biologically based attraction to nature and exhibit an innate affinity for life and lifelike processes. Stephen R. Kellert sets forth the idea that people exhibit different expressions of biophilia in different contexts, and demonstrates how our quality of life in the largest sense is dependent upon the richness of our connections with nature.While the natural world provides us with material necessities -- food, clothing, medicine, clean air, pure water -- it just as importantly plays a key role in other aspects of our lives, including intellectual capacity, emotional bonding, aesthetic attraction, creativity, imagination, and even the recognition of a just and purposeful existence. As Kellert explains, each expression of biophilia shows how our physical, material, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual well-being is to a great extent dependent on our relationships with the natural world that surrounds us.Kinship to Mastery is a thought-provoking examination of a concept that, while not widely known, has a significant and direct effect on the lives of people everywhere. Because the full expression of biophilia is integral to our overall health, our ongoing destruction of the environment could have far more serious consequences than many people think. In a readable and compelling style, Kellert describes and explains the concept of biophilia, and demonstrates to a general audience the wide-ranging implications of environmental degradation.Kinship to Mastery continues the exploration of biophilia begun with Edward O. Wilson's landmark book Biophilia (Harvard University Press, 1984) and followed by The Biophilia Hypothesis (Island Press, 1993), co-edited by Wilson and Kellert, which brought together some of the most creative scientists of our time to explore Wilson's theory in depth.

About this title

Review

Do human beings have an innate, biologically-based attraction to nature? According to Stephen R. Kellert, author of Kinship to Mastery, "biophilia" is a distinct possibility. Certainly humankind's relationship with the physical world has long been evident in our dependence on nature for the tools of survival--everything from clothing to fossil fuel--but is there also a deeper, less obvious role that nature plays in our lives? Kellert posits that our abilities to emotionally bond, to create, imagine, or even simply recognize our existence as purposeful all stem from our relationships with the world around us.

And if our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being depends on the natural world, then the environment's degradation could have more disastrous effects than we realize. With Kinship to Mastery, Stephen Kellert presents yet another element in the ongoing debate over conservation, growth, and the environment; this is a book well worth reading.

About the Author

Stephen R. Kellert was the Tweedy/Ordway Professor of Social Ecology at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and author of numerous books including, The Biophilia Hypothesis (coedited with E. O. Wilson, 1993), The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Society (1996), Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia in Human Evolution and Development (1997), The Good in Nature and Humanity: Connecting Science, Religion, and Spirituality with the Natural World (coedited with T. Farnham, 2002), and Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations (coedited with P. H. Kahn, 2002).

About this edition

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1559633735
• ISBN 13: 9781559633734
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272