Gaiasophy - Kees Zoeteman

Dettagli

Description

The idea that the Earth on which we live is a living organism recurs frequently in the history of philosophy. Its modern scientific formulation is due to James Lovelock, who proposed it in the seventies taking the classic name of Gaia , the divinity who represents Mother Earth in Greek mythology.

In this book Zoeteman, referring to Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, takes up the theory of Gaia from a broader perspective. His Gaiasophy offers us a new, particular vision of the anatomy and physiology of our planet, which is seen not only as an organism endowed with physical or biological characteristics, but also as an entity subject to decisive influences of a spiritual nature. His current physical condition is, in this sense, a consequence of man's development and only partly attributable to the physical world.

Zoeteman takes the reader on a long journey through science, mythology and religions. His personal experience as a scientific researcher leads him to see the limits of materialistic science and to attempt to go beyond them by founding the discussion of the topic that is closest to his heart, the safeguarding of Gaia's health (and therefore also of life) on a complex theoretical basis. and human development inextricably linked to it) through the protection and conservation of the environment. Many of the classic themes of modern environmentalism, from urban planning to agriculture, from the problems of industrial pollution to those of overpopulation, acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer, are examined and realistically framed in a universal perspective capable of giving concrete answers.

Author

Kees Zoeteman, Dutch, graduated in chemistry from the Delft Polytechnic, was director of the National Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Protection (RIVM) in Bilthoven from 1984 to 1988.

Since 1988 he has been deputy director general for Environmental Protection at his country's Ministry of the Environment, and as such is one of the authors of the National Environmental Plan.