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HUMANITY IN NATURE: CONSERVING YET CREATING
Author(s) -
Peters Karl E.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9744.1989.tb00991.x
Subject(s) - humanity , harmony (color) , epistemology , creatures , dualism , environmental ethics , norm (philosophy) , commit , sociology , philosophy , embodied cognition , natural (archaeology) , computer science , art , theology , archaeology , database , visual arts , history
. Developing a scientifically grounded philosophy of cosmic evolution, and using the moral norm of completeness as dynamic harmony, this paper argues that humans are a part of nature in both its conserving and emergent aspects. Humans are both material and cultural, instinctual‐emotional and rational, creatures and creators, and carriers of stability and change. To ignore any of the multifaceted aspects of humanity in relation to the rest of nature is to commit one of a number of fallacies that are grounded in a dualistic‐conquest mentality. Examples of some new developments in philosophy and theology, metaphorical images, and ritual show how to overcome dualism in favor of a dynamic harmony of humanity within nature.