Abstract:

This paper considers the need for interdisciplinary study in the fields of religion, nature and culture, and the role of western scholarship in contributing to the current crises facing human/nature relations. In identifying the common fundamental theme that pervades much of the literature on the current environmental crisis, that of our mental separation from the kosmos (as in the ancient Greek sense) I consider the need to explore the role of scholars in being able to lead us back into a sense of unity with it. In suggesting ways through which this could come about, I explore my own research experiences and how they changed my basic worldview. I then consider how some of these experiences have challenged my understanding of the relationship between humans, nature and spirit.

Author: Penelope S. Bernard