The
Only World We've Got : A Paul
Shepard Reader by
Paul
Shepard (Editor).
This book collects in one volume the writings of a
man considered to be an elder of the environmental movement. The essays
range from human ecology to environmental perception, from the nature of
sanity to our relationships with our fellow animals.
The philosopher and essayist Paul Shepard (1925-1996)
brought to the environmental literature of the 1960s and '70s the
political passion of the time, but a passion matched with a demand for
scholarly precision. This anthology from his work, which Shepard himself
assembled not long before his death, addresses themes he touched on in
many of his books. Many of them deal in one way or another with the
disastrous consequences of humankind's increasing detachment from the
natural world as a by-product of "the ecological insolence of the
last century." In Shepard's view, the natural world--and
particularly the world of animals--is the source of human intelligence
and the wellspring of the imagination. He examines, for instance, the
antiquity of the human eye, an organ essential to the cognitive
revolution that distinguishes us from other primates; the origins of
language and of literature in the imitation of birdsong; and the lessons
animals of many species can teach us about ourselves. Shepard delves
into environmental psychology, anatomy, history, linguistics, and a host
of other topics to make his arguments, which are strikingly original.
They have also been influential in shaping modern environmental
philosophy, and this useful collection shows why that should be so. --Gregory
McNamee
"A superb
introduction and summation of the work of Paul Shepard, an
exceptionally clear thinker who is also a lucid and exhilarating
writer.... His work is valuable but very urgent, shining in the
sun like the tip of the vast iceberg of knowledge and reflection
that supports it." -- Peter Matthiessen, Author of The Snow Leopard
"Much of what we value in contemporary
thought about 'nature and culture' grew up in the seedbed of
Paul Shepard's thinking. His Writing about child development,
physical and cultural anthropology animal behavior, art and
mythology, the history of agriculture and other subjects is
endlessly stimulating." -- Barry Lopez, Author of Arctic Dreams - Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape.
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