The Way: An Ecological Word-View [Paperback]

Edward Goldsmith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

A point-by-point summary of the philosophical and ideological values that underpin the ecology movement. The message from environmentalists and many scientists is now clear - our modern, technological way of life is destroying our planet and threatening the very existence of mankind's future. Goldsmith believes that only a clearly formulated ecological worldview is likely to give rise to a comprehensive strategy for assuring the earth's future. In "The Way", he puts forward the principles which he regards as fundamental to such a view and stresses the need for people to realize that they are an integral part of nature. This book offers both well argued theory and practical advice and spells out the philosophical, political, economic and scientific foundation for an ecological worldview.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A unique, extraordinary, and profoundly challenging book."--John Gray, Times Literary Supplement

"Every page sizzles with fervor and intellect."--Fred Pearce, Wildlife

"Edward Goldsmith has written one of those books, like Darwin's Origin of Species or Karl Marx's Das Kapital, that is going to change the world we live in."--Giles MacBain, Common Ground

"Goldsmith lays out an intellectually rigorous and emotionally compelling ecological worldview. May it be widely read—and widely acted upon."--Bill McKibben

"Anyone interested in charting the planet's survival must read this vital work."--Jerry Mander, author of In the Absence of the Sacred

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Edward Goldsmith was a highly influential environmentalist, eco-philosopher and founder of The Ecologist magaizine. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press; Revised edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820320307
• ISBN-13: 978-0820320304
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,945,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A key philosophical treatise for the 21st Century, February 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Way: An Ecological Word-View (Paperback)

In `The Way: an ecological world view', one of the most informed and intellectually formidable minds of the environmental movement turns conventional thought on its head and demonstrates point by point how most of the fundamental mores and principles taken for granted by our modern society are fundamentally flawed and, as such, are leading us in the opposite direction of the healthy and happy life they promise. In contrast to this Edward Goldsmith argues for a revival of a way common to many societies prior to the industrial revolution and the influence of its reductionist world view.

The way of these traditional societies could not be more at variance with the way of the modern, and yet could not be more in tune with our biological, social and psychological needs. Goldsmith contrasts this vernacular way with the world view of the current technocratic, industrial mission.

The thesis that Goldsmith weaves together claims that by rejecting and pulling itself away from the path of the biosphere our modern industrial way of life has effectively become diseased in almost every aspect of its operation, and as a result cannot possibly sustain its own vital, living processes. The result of this straying from the Way is breakdown, disorder and chaos worsening from one crisis to another until final, inevitable collapse. This is so as the processes of industrial society are consistently at odds with the primary processes of the real world that have sustained complex life on the planet for several hundred million years without aid.

The Way explains how this works, and how the same principles are in operation at every level of organisation whether it be in the life of the cell, the individual, the family, the local community, society at large or the biosphere as a whole. It explains why the current dominant world view attempts to foist upon people the pathological belief that natural, living processes are redundant and must be surrogated by the great artificial enterprise of the fake, imitated and engineered. It rapidly becomes clear how this is threatening our own survival and the biosphere itself within what is a mere blink of an eye of evolutionary time.

Although modern in its technical elucidation and method, The Way's carefully reasoned message is a call for a revival of most of what is rejected by our modern way of life. The Way is a call to instinct, intuition and aesthetics as much as to knowledge gathered by careful study and analysis. It is a call for the mythopoetic as much as for reason and sensory experience. Religion, art and myth figure prominently as means of interweaving our lives with the natural way. Emotion, faith, aliveness and natural creativity are all called upon as vital for the survival of the ancient, intelligent living processes that maintain our planet, our societies and our very selves. It calls upon the basic common sense that if one realises one has made a serious mistake by turning the wrong way then it's not too late to turn back and recover the well trodden way once again. There is really no shame in rethinking the most fundamental assumptions of one's life, since now it has become a matter of general urgency.

Yet such ways by their very nature cannot be imposed simplistically from on-high without ruining them. By and large these complex living processes require nurturing cooperatively from below, and this may prove to be the most uncomfortable challenge of all to our massively over-powered and rigidly controlled institutional structures.

`The Way: an ecological world view' may yet become one of the key works that transformed our way of thinking and practice in the 21st century. Read on...

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great work (but poorly copyedited), November 1, 2005

By 

Glenn Corey "book fiend" (Canton, OH, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way: An Ecological Word-View (Paperback)

In "The Way: An Ecological World-View," Goldsmith shows us what an ecologically sustainable society, which ours is not, looks like. And he need not make one up, either, because there are plenty of models already in existence in so-called primitive societies. While Goldsmith's vision is optimistic in that it shows us what is *possible*, when one realizes the enormity of the task of transforming our society into one that is ecologically sound, one is liable to become rather despondent. As Goldsmith shows, all societies are package deals, meaning that everything--institutions, governments, customs, values, education, etc.--supports the overall condition of the given society. Thus in our society, mainstream scientists, educational institutions, religion, etc. contribute to our society's current state.

Another great feature of the book is its rich bibliography. It's a great place to look for further reading if you want to go more in depth.

I had two problems with it, though, both related to the copyediting. First, not *all* works are cited. For example, at the bottom of p. 390, Ch. 60, is the sentence "The social psychiatrist Marvin Opler has shown..." One would expect this sentence to be annotated, but no note is given. Where did Opler show this? What is the name of the work? Also, McNeill is mentioned in the text, but no work is given (my guess is McNeill's "Plagues and Peoples," but I don't know).

My second gripe has to do with punctuation. Often, commas are used where they shouldn't be. For example (p. 367): "Erwin Chargaff of Columbia University, writes of the..." There's no reason for a comma after "University" here. Unfortunately, mistakes like this are rife throughout the book. For me they get distracting and annoying, which is why I gave the book only four stars.

But overall, this is a great read that needs to be read by everyone in our culture (though I have no doubt it would be poorly received by most politicians, scientists, and average citizens).