Nested Ecology: The Place of Humans in the Ecological Hierarchy

by Edward T. Wimberley, John F. Haught

Overview

Nested Ecology provides a pragmatic and functional approach to realizing a sustainable environmental ethic.

Edward T. Wimberley asserts that a practical ecological ethic must focus on human decision making within the context of larger social and environmental systems. Think of a set of mixing bowls, in which smaller bowls sit within larger ones. Wimberley sees the world in much the same way, with personal ecologies embedded in social ecologies that in turn are nested within natural ecologies.

Wimberley urges a complete reconceptualization of the human place in the ecological hierarchy. Going beyond the physical realms in which people live and interact, he extends the concept of ecology to spirituality and the “ecology of the unknown.” In doing so, Wimberley defines a new environmental philosophy and a new ecological ethic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801892899
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	05/29/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Edward T. Wimberley is a professor of ecological studies at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Table of Contents

Foreword, by John F. Haught
Preface
1. Developing a Practical and Sustainable Ecology
2. Personal Ecology
3. Social Ecology
4. Environmental Ecology
5. Cosmic Ecology and the Ecology of the Unknown
6. Essential Characteristics of Nested Ecology
7. The Fundamentals of Nested Ecological Householding
Epilogue
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

John F. Haught

[Wimberley's] wise, readable, and convincing book awakens us to spheres of concern that even the most sensitive ecological treatises have often ignored or underemphasized. He has in mind a much more integral and nuanced ecological vision than is customary. Readers of many backgrounds and interests will find herein a carefully coordinated range of reflections on the multiple nesting and nested levels that make up the universe. Wimberley's sophisticated study of the plurality of ecological strata challenges us to develop a wider ecological awareness than even some of the most celebrated ecological visionaries have provided.

From the Publisher

[Wimberley's] wise, readable, and convincing book awakens us to spheres of concern that even the most sensitive ecological treatises have often ignored or underemphasized. He has in mind a much more integral and nuanced ecological vision than is customary. Readers of many backgrounds and interests will find herein a carefully coordinated range of reflections on the multiple nesting and nested levels that make up the universe. Wimberley's sophisticated study of the plurality of ecological strata challenges us to develop a wider ecological awareness than even some of the most celebrated ecological visionaries have provided.
—John F. Haught, Georgetown University, from the Foreword

Editorial Reviews

This book makes for salutary reading for anyone who is seeking to understand current ecological thinking—and for a lawyer in particular it is hugely thought-provoking.
—Karen Morrow, Journal of Environmental Law

Wimberley's concept of nested ecology is essential to rethinking the human role within the universe's natural ecological progression.
—Scott Obernesser, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

From the Publisher

Wimberley's concept of nested ecology is essential to rethinking the human role within the universe's natural ecological progression.

— Scott Obernesser

Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

This book makes for salutary reading for anyone who is seeking to understand current ecological thinking—and for a lawyer in particular it is hugely thought-provoking.

— Karen Morrow

Journal of Environmental Law

Wimberley's concept of nested ecology is essential to rethinking the human role within the universe's natural ecological progression.

Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment - Scott Obernesser

This book makes for salutary reading for anyone who is seeking to understand current ecological thinking—and for a lawyer in particular it is hugely thought-provoking.

Journal of Environmental Law - Karen Morrow