Callicott, J. Baird : University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
J. Baird Callicott is Professor of Philosophy and Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens
Point, and author of In Defense of the Land Ethic : Essays in Environmental Philosophy (1989).
Review
"A lucid, original, and useful work by a fine scholar already well known in the emerging field of environmental
philosophy.
--David Abram, University of Kansas
University Of California Press Web Site, March, 2000
Summary
The environmental crisis is global in scope, yet contemporary environmental ethics is centered predominantly
in Western philosophy and religion. Earth's Insights widens the scope of environmental ethics to include
the ecological teachings embedded in non-Western worldviews. J. Baird Callicott ranges broadly, exploring the sacred
texts of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism, as well as the oral traditions of Polynesia,
North and South America, and Australia. He also documents the attempts of various peoples to put their environmental
ethics into practice. Finally, he wrestles with a question of vital importance to all people sharing the fate of
this small planet : How can the world's many and diverse environmental philosophies be brought together in a complementary
and consistent whole?
