Katherine Elliot

Professor Stephens
Environmental Ethics and Policy R01
26 January 2018

A Realistic Earth Centered Worldview

In order to fully understand our current environmental worldview, we must look back to

the roots of our perspective. Specifically, the influence of ancient Greeks and Romans.

Traditionally, the Greeks and Romans regarded the world as a sacred place where the gods of

nature, who shared some human qualities, were present.1 Most Gods were understood and

depicted as having specific connections to natural elements. One goddess, Artemis, is now

understood as the “goddess of conservation” as she was often blamed for the difficulties that

neglectful hunters went through.2 Due to the strong connection between the environment and the

Gods, the Greeks and Romans viewed the natural world as places where humanity could directly

feel and experience the power and presence of gods in the real world. This resulted in extreme

reverence for the natural world which is reflected in the art, literature, and architecture of the

time.3 Furthermore, over a period of time this early reverence and appreciation for the natural

world launched many early philosophers to produce scientific inquiries and theories based on

their observations of the natural world around them. This includes discoveries and methods that

were the foundation for the development of ecology. While these ancient discoveries, in

retrospect, may not have been fully accurate, are still extremely important in understanding how

environmental worldviews developed in the way they have.

1
Concepts of Natural World 45
2
Artemis reading
3
 At the beginning of natural philosophy, concepts were heavily rooted in the theological as

opposed to the ecological.4 However, as attempts to understand the natural world increased,

people began to develop different approaches to discovering the natural world. This allowed for

certain scientific generalizations to occur which are now known as hypotheses, theories, and

laws.5 Specifically, the balance of earth theory, which was extremely influential, focused on the

idea that all of the earth is in balance and harmony with each other. This theory, however, was

never clearly defined and instead developed from various clusters of information.6 The

pythagoreans, a group in Ancient Greece, used this theory to develop philosophy directed

towards conservation.7 Their belief of the balance in nature lead to the development of

mathematical proportions, that they believed, demonstrated the harmony of the earth. At first,

scientific inquiries, like the balance of the earth theory, were rooted in antiquity and thus, not

questioned or subject to controversy for many years. This lack of controversy allowed certain

information to remain relevant despite its archaic nature. Despite the influence of the balance of

earth theory, looking back, the lack of questioning may have prevented ancient philosophers

from developing accurate scientific conclusions. Although this is a negative outcome of the

balance of earth theory, in today’s world we can look to this theory for more than scientific

inquiry but instead, as a way to bring the create a realistic earth-centered worldview. By seeing

the earth, in a metaphoric sense, as a harmonious living thing, people may feel inclined to treat it

with more respect than they do now. Especially in terms of the ruthless and disgusting factory

farming tendencies of today, people may finally begin to value the lives of other creatures.

Word Count: 531

4
Changing conepts322
5
324
6
7
Pythag reading
Question: How can we reflect the harmonious nature model in our day to day life that still

incorporates the scientific discoveries that we now know as truth?