Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1995

Abstract

The Western belief that the world is divided into the "human" and the "natural" stems from the philosophy, first propounded by the ancient Greeks, notably Aristotle, that all living organisms could be placed in a Scale of Nature or Great Chain of Being with "primeval slime" at its base and "Man" at its summit. This belief, which is imbued in Christianity and in all aspects of western civilization, has led to a great divide with "the wild" on one side and "the tame", that is all the animals and plants that are exploited by human, on the other.

Comments

Includes transcript of discussion that followed presentation at a workshop held at the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida on April 21-24, 1994.

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