This book brings together the interdisciplinary reflections of Christian scholars and poets, to explore how ecological virtues can foster the flourishing of our home planet in the face of unprecedented environmental change and devastation. Its central questions are: What virtues are needed for us to be better caretakers of our home planet? What vices must we extinguish if we are to flourish on the earth? What is the connection between such virtues and vices and the flourishing of all creatures? Each contribution offers insight on ecological virtue-ethical questions through disciplinary lenses ranging from biology, geology and economics, to literature, theology, and philosophy. The chapters feature the legacy and lessons of senior scholars reflecting on a lifetime of earthkeeping work, highlight global concerns and perspectives, and include compelling poetic reflections. Focusing on the way in which human vices and virtues drive so many of our ecological problems and solutions, the volume engages timely issues of environmental importancesuch as environmental racism, interfaith dialogue, ecological philosophies of work and economics, marine pollution, ecological despair, hope and humilityencouraging fresh reflection and action. It will be of interest to those working in theology and religious studies, philosophy, ethics, and environmental studies.
This book brings together the interdisciplinary reflections of Christian scholars and poets, to explore how ecological virtues can foster the flourishing of our home planet in the face of unprecedented environmental change and devastation.
Foreword; Introduction; I. Gifts in Retrospection: Mentors in
Ecoflourishing 1 From Shenandoah to the Mountain West; 2 Crossing Lehigh
Gap: Discerning Christian Contributions and Misdirection in Wilderness
Preservation; 3 Beholding Earth through the Eye of its Maker; 4 Prophets and
Poets: The Capture of the Creative Vision; 5 A Table and a Planet: From
Hearthkeeping to Earthkeeping; II. Grounding Narratives of Ecoflourishing and
Virtue: Stories Worth Telling 6 When Good Christians Destroy the Earth: The
Virtue of Limits and the Limits of Virtue; 7 "Ecoflourishing" and Story:
Fantasy, Science Fiction and Hope; 8 I all-creation sing: Christina
Rossettis Cosmic Liturgy and Challenge to Anthropocentrism; 9 John Muir,
Deep Time, and the Hope of Ecoflourishing; III. Biblical and Theological
Soundings: Ecological Ruin, Restoration, and Community Virtues 10
Subverting Metaphor, Transforming Identity: An Eco-Anthropological Analysis
of Jobs Shift from Ruler to Member of the Creation Community; 11 Paul,
Generosity, and Ecological Flourishing; 12 Ecoflourishing: Life, Death and
Natural Disasters; IV. Global Ecoflourishing: Biospheric, Intercultural, and
Interreligious 13 Interdisciplinary Voices of the Ecoflourishing Glocal
Dialogue from Non-Western Cultural and Literary Perspectives; 14 Becoming
Citizens of the Biosphere: Character, Ecoflourishing, and Control in Our
Newfound Common Home; 15 Becoming Human, Intercultural, and Inter-creational:
Movements toward Achieving Ecoflourishing; V. Philosophical Remedies:
Relationship, Work, Economy 16 Primary Encounters: Relational Ontology and
Ecoflourishing; 17 Toward a Christian Ecological Philosophy of Work; 18 Fairy
Tales and True Stories: Economic Talk for Ecological Flourishing; VI. Virtue
and Vice in Ecological Practice: Confronting Current Challenges 19 The
Christian Ethics of Waste, Contaminants, and Emerging Pollutants in Marine
Ecosystems; 20 Reconciling the Food Chain with the Great Chain of Being: A
Philosophers Reflection on Raising Sheep for Meat; 21 Justice, Biocentrism,
and White Supremacy: John Muirs Romantic Christian Ethics; 22 The Virtue of
Intersectionality in Environmental Ethics.
Steven Bouma-Prediger is Professor of Religion at Hope College in Michigan, USA. He is best known for his book For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care and his most recent book Earthkeeping and Character: Exploring A Christian Ecological Virtue Ethic. At Hope he oversees the Environmental Studies program and co-chairs the Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee.
Nathan P. Carson is Associate Professor and Program Director of Philosophy at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, California, USA, directing also its Sierra Program which integrates wilderness, conservation, and community with environmentally thematized courses. His philosophical publications have appeared in Dao, Philosophy and Literature, International Philosophical Quarterly, History of Philosophy Quarterly, and Journal of Chinese Philosophy.
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