Thanks for a careful presentation on an intellectual proposition still vital but in need of update. To update see recent Pew research on Americans' attitudes about religion and the environment. Also, the Industrial Revolution not different than science but an expansion of it into technology, as White notes. Knowledge is power! Whee!
Thank you for discussing this. I like when people focus more on the questions and answers that a theory brings up, rather than spending all their time poking holes in the weak points of it. Do you know if there is a name for this kind of thinking/response?
Thanks so much for your kind words. I don't know if there is an official name for this kind of response, but as a historian, what I've done here is just try to offer a historical description, focusing especially on the reception history of White's thesis. I hope this helps!
Dense and erudite, I had to listen twice, but well worth it. Stewardship is the essence of dominion over creation, as you note Genesis. A counter-thesis premised on post-Christian modernism would seem to have obvious advantages over those lacking that premise. Compared to pagan animism where every tree had a soul and we honored ourselves by naming our children after animals, the biblical decoding as you describe it has left nature at the mercy of the decoders. Not to mention the cultural monotony of naming our children from the Bible. Hopefully children named Feathered Eagle and Blue Sky would be better ecologists than a John or Peter. Would stewardship be more affective with grounding in atheism or even anti-Christianity? I think not because at least the process of biblical decoding imbues nature with the presumption of divine protection. The Christian West thrives, it learns from its environmental mistakes, it is taking remedial action. It contains the essential element for survival and salvation- humility as you referenced it. Thank you once again professor for the scholarly invigoration.
Thanks for taking time to share
Thanks for a careful presentation on an intellectual proposition still vital but in need of update. To update see recent Pew research on Americans' attitudes about religion and the environment. Also, the Industrial Revolution not different than science but an expansion of it into technology, as White notes. Knowledge is power! Whee!
Thank you for discussing this. I like when people focus more on the questions and answers that a theory brings up, rather than spending all their time poking holes in the weak points of it. Do you know if there is a name for this kind of thinking/response?
Thanks so much for your kind words. I don't know if there is an official name for this kind of response, but as a historian, what I've done here is just try to offer a historical description, focusing especially on the reception history of White's thesis. I hope this helps!
The effect of liberty.
Thanks so much for watching. What do you mean?
Dense and erudite, I had to listen twice, but well worth it. Stewardship is the essence of dominion over creation, as you note Genesis. A counter-thesis premised on post-Christian modernism would seem to have obvious advantages over those lacking that premise. Compared to pagan animism where every tree had a soul and we honored ourselves by naming our children after animals, the biblical decoding as you describe it has left nature at the mercy of the decoders. Not to mention the cultural monotony of naming our children from the Bible. Hopefully children named Feathered Eagle and Blue Sky would be better ecologists than a John or Peter. Would stewardship be more affective with grounding in atheism or even anti-Christianity? I think not because at least the process of biblical decoding imbues nature with the presumption of divine protection. The Christian West thrives, it learns from its environmental mistakes, it is taking remedial action. It contains the essential element for survival and salvation- humility as you referenced it. Thank you once again professor for the scholarly invigoration.