Ecology: Science, Philosophy, and Faith in Dialogue in the Context of the Contemporary Ecological Crisis

Introduction: The Crisis of Our Very ‘Home’

PART I: ARE WE TEARING DOWN OUR HOME?

Chapter 1: The Making of a Home

  • In the Beginning … A Cosmic Meditation on the Origin of the Universe
  • Earth-The “Goldilocks” Planet
  • Earth, the Womb of Life
  • Our Arrival at Home – The Peopling of the Planet
  • The Transformation of Our Common Home: From Agriculture to Industry
  • Earth Is Our Only Home

Chapter 2: Our Common Home in Peril

  • The Gravity of the Contemporary Ecological Crisis: Warnings from the Scientific Community
  • The Alarming State of Our Common Home
  • The Danger of Crossing the Thresholds
  • Humanity Fouling Its Own Nest: The Anthropogenic Character of the Contemporary Ecological Crisis
  • The Dawning of the Anthropocene Era
  • The Moral and Religious Implications of Our “Oikos-cide”

PART II: THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: THE TRIPLE CRY OF THE EARTH, OF THE POOR AND OF THE GODS

Chapter 3: Climate Change and Its Impacts

  • The Greenhouse Effect as Rendering the Earth a Home of Life
  • A Walk through Earth’s Climate History
  • Anthropogenic Global Warming and Associated Climate Change
  • The Greenhouse Gases Driving Anthropogenic Climate Change
  • Projections of Future Climate Change and the Danger of Tipping Points
  • Impacts of Climate Change: Extreme Weather Events, Droughts and Desertification, Melting of Glaciers, Sea-Level Rise, Ocean Acidification and Threats to Marin Life, Biodiversity Loss
  • A Reckless Gamble with Our Planetary Home

Chapter 4: Species Extinction and Biodiversity Loss, Pollution, Waste, and Depletion of Natural Resources

  • Biodiversity and Its Importance
  • Earth on the Brink of a Massive Loss of Biodiversity
  • Current Spasm of Biodiversity Loss as Driven by Human Activities
  • Implications of the Loss of Biodiversity
  • Pollution of the Air, Land, and Water
  • Waste and Depletion of Natural Resources
  • The Problem of Water Scarcity
  • Humanity’s Distorted Relationship with the Natural World

Chapter 5: The Impacts of the Ecological Crisis on Human Well-Being and the Challenge of Eco-Justice

  • The Impacts of the Ecological Crisis on Food Security
  • Health Impacts of the Contemporary Ecological Crisis
  • Ecological Crisis and the Spectre of Forced Migration
  • The Ecological Crisis in Terms of Injustice and Inequality
  • The Ecological “Apartheid”
  • Historical Responsibility and Personal Responsibility
  • The Triple Pillars of Equity, Justice, and Solidarity
  • A Common Yet Differentiated Responsibility for Our Planetary Home

Chapter 6: Creation as God’s Home and the Ecological Sin of Irresponsible Stewardship

  • Our Incapacity to See the World as Creation and Our Disregard for the Sacredness of God’s Home
  • Creation as a Symbol and Sacrament of God
  • The Ecological Crisis and the Disrespect for the Telos of God’s Creation
  • The Human Vocation for the Stewardship of Creation
  • Irresponsible Stewardship as Sin
  • Repercussions of Sin on Creation
  • Ecological Conversion in Response to Ecological Sin

PART III: THE PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS OF THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS

Chapter 7: Diagnosing the Root Causes of the Ecological Crisis

  • The Roots of the Ecological Crisis as ‘Philosophical’
  • Modernity as the Humus for the Philosophical Roots of the Ecological Crisis
  • Bacon as a Possible Accoucheur of Modernity
  • The Singular Contribution of Descartes in the Creation of the Modern Weltbild
  • The Metamorphosis of Natural Philosophy into Modern Mechanistic Science

  • The Cartesian Modern Weltbild as the Humus for the Philosophical Roots of the Ecological Crisis

Chapter 8: The Philosophical Roots of the Ecological Crisis in Modern Antrhopocentrism, Mechanism, and Metaphysical Dualism

  • The Cogito and the Birth of the Modern Subject
  • Modern Anthropocentrism and the Roots of the Ecological Crisis
  • The Ontological Reduction of the Physical World to Sole Extension
  • Cartesian Mechanistic Physiology and the Elimination of Teleology
  • Ecological Implications of Cartesian Mechanistic Physiology: Animals as Bête-Machines
  • The Metaphysical Dualism between the res cogitans and the res extensa
  • Cartesian Dualism and the Bifurcation of Nature
  • The Enduring Cartesian Modern Weltbild and the Ecological Crisis

PART IV: RESPONDING TO THE CONTEMPAORY ECOLOGICAL CRISIS

Chapter 9: Theoretical and Practical Responses to the Ecological Crisis

  • Systematic’ Responses to the Ecological Crisis: Deep Ecology, Eco-feminism, Social Ecology, and Environmental Ethics
  • Popular Responses to the Ecological Crisis: Environmental Movements
  • Grass-Root Ecological Initiatives around the World
  • Global Responses to the Ecological Crisis: United Nations and Other Organizations, International Treaties
  • Church and the Stewardship of Creation: The World Council of Churches, the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, Catholic Bishops’ Conferences, Local Church Initiatives
  • Religions and the Stewardship of God’s Creation

Chapter 10: Towards a Comprehensive Response to the Ecological Crisis

  • Weaving a New Philosophical Weltanschauung: the Journey from Fragmentation to Totality
  • The Ecological Crisis as the Kairos for an Alternative and Unitary Vision of Reality
  • Rediscovery of the Cosmic Dimension and Our Rootedness in the Natural World
  • The Re-Integration of the Poor: The Challenge of Eco-Justice
  • Ecological Renewal through an Authentic Spirituality of Creation
  • Return to the Mother Earth and a New Ethics of ‘Care’
  • From Affluence to Sobriety: the Ascetic Path to Ecological Renewal
  • Education towards New Lifestyles to Save the Earth and the Poor

Conclusion: Ecological Conversion: From the Krisis of Ecological Disharmony to the Kairos of a New Vision and Lifestyle