Gaia philosophy

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For other uses, see Gaia (disambiguation).

Gaia philosophy (named after Gaia, Greek goddess of the Earth) is a broadly inclusive term for relating concepts about, humanity as an effect of the life of this planet.

The Gaia hypothesis holds that all organisms on a life-giving planet regulate the biosphere in such a way as to promote its habitability. Gaia concepts draw a connection between the survivability of a species (hence its evolutionary course) and its usefulness to the survival of other species. While there were a number of precursors to Gaia hypothesis, the first scientific form of this idea was proposed as the Gaia hypothesis by James Lovelock, a UK chemist, in 1970. The Gaia hypothesis deals with the concept of biological homeostasis, and claims the resident life forms of a host planet coupled with their environment have acted and act like a single, self-regulating system. This system includes the near-surface rocks, the soil, and the atmosphere. Today, many scientists consider such ideas to be unsupported by, or at odds with, the available evidence (see Gaia hypothesis criticism). These theories are, however, significant in green politics.

Predecessors to the Gaia theory[edit]

There are some mystical, scientific and religious predecessors to the Gaia philosophy, which had a Gaia-like conceptual basis. Many religious mythologies had a view of Earth as being a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts (e.g. some Native American religions and various forms of shamanism).

Isaac Newton wrote of the earth, "Thus this Earth resembles a great animal or rather inanimate vegetable, draws in æthereall breath for its dayly refreshment & vitall ferment & transpires again with gross exhalations, And according to the condition of all other things living ought to have its times of beginning youth old age & perishing."[1]

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and geologist, believed that evolution fractally unfolded from cell to organism to planet to solar system and ultimately the whole universe, as we humans see it from our limited perspective. Teilhard later influenced Thomas Berry and many Catholic humanist thinkers of the 20th century.

Lewis Thomas believed that Earth should be viewed as a single cell; he derived this view from Johannes Kepler's view of Earth as a single round organism.[2]

Buckminster Fuller is generally credited with making the idea respectable in Western scientific circles in the 20th century. Building to some degree on his observations and artifacts, e.g. the Dymaxion map of the Earth he created, others began to ask if there was a way to make the Gaia theory scientifically sound.

In 1931, L.G.M. Baas Becking delivered an inaugural lecture about Gaia in the sense of life and earth.[3]

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart in 1970 in an article in Green Egg Magazine, independently articulated the Gaia Thesis.[4]

Many believe that these ideas cannot be considered scientific hypotheses; by definition a scientific hypothesis must make testable predictions. As the above claims are not currently testable, they are outside the bounds of current science. This does not mean that these ideas are not theoretically testable. As one can postulate tests that could be applied, given enough time and space, then these ideas should be seen as scientific hypotheses.

These are conjectures and perhaps can only be considered as social and maybe political philosophy; they may have implications for theology, or thealogy as Zell-Ravenheart and Isaac Bonewits put it.

Range of views[edit]

According to James Kirchner there is a spectrum of Gaia hypotheses, ranging from the undeniable to radical. At one end is the undeniable statement that the organisms on the Earth have radically altered its composition. A stronger position is that the Earth's biosphere effectively acts as if it is a self-organizing system which works in such a way as to keep its systems in some kind of equilibrium that is conducive to life. Today many scientists consider that such a view (and any stronger views) are unlikely to be correct.[5][6][7][8][9] An even stronger claim is that all lifeforms are part of a single planetary being, called Gaia. In this view, the atmosphere, the seas, the terrestrial crust would be the result of interventions carried out by Gaia, through the coevolving diversity of living organisms.

The most extreme form of Gaia theory is that the entire Earth is a single unified organism with a highly intelligent mind that arose as an emergent property of the whole biosphere. In this view, the Earth's biosphere is consciously manipulating the climate in order to make conditions more conducive to life. Scientists contend that there is no evidence at all to support this last point of view, and it has come about because many people do not understand the concept of homeostasis. Many non-scientists instinctively and incorrectly see homeostasis as a process that requires conscious control.[dubious – discuss][10]

The more speculative versions of Gaia, including versions in which it is believed that the Earth is actually conscious, sentient, and highly intelligent, are usually considered outside the bounds of what is usually considered science.

Gaia in biology and science[edit]

Main article: Gaia hypothesis

Buckminster Fuller has been credited as the first to incorporate scientific ideas into a Gaia theory, which he did with his Dymaxion map of the Earth.

The first scientifically rigorous theory was the Gaia hypothesis by James Lovelock, a UK chemist.

A variant of this hypothesis was developed by Lynn Margulis, a microbiologist, in 1979. Her version is sometimes called the "Gaia Theory" (note uppercase-T). Her model is more limited in scope than the one that Lovelock proposed.

Whether this sort of system is present on Earth is still open to debate. Some relatively simple homeostatic mechanisms are generally accepted. For example, when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise, plants are able to grow better and thus remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Other biological effects and feedbacks exist,[9] but the extent to which these mechanisms have stabilized and modified the Earth's overall climate is largely not known.

The Gaia hypothesis is sometimes viewed from significantly different philosophical perspectives. Some environmentalists view it as an almost conscious process, in which the Earth's ecosystem is literally viewed as a single unified organism. Some evolutionary biologists, on the other hand, view it as an undirected emergent property of the ecosystem: as each individual species pursues its own self-interest, their combined actions tend to have counterbalancing effects on environmental change. Proponents of this view sometimes point to examples of life's actions in the past that have resulted in dramatic change rather than stable equilibrium, such as the conversion of the Earth's atmosphere from a reducing environment to an oxygen-rich one.

Depending on how strongly the case is stated, the hypothesis conflicts with mainstream neo-Darwinism. Most biologists would accept Daisyworld-style homeostasis as possible, but would certainly not accept the idea that this equates to the whole biosphere acting as one organism.

A very small number of scientists, and a much larger number of environmental activists, claim that Earth's biosphere is consciously manipulating the climate in order to make conditions more conducive to life. Scientists contend that there is no evidence to support this belief.

Gaia in the social sciences and politics[edit]

A social science view of Gaia theory is the role of humans as a keystone species who may be able to accomplish global homeostasis. Whilst a few social scientists who draw inspiration from 'organic' views of society have embraced Gaia philosophy as a way to explain the human-nature interconnections, most professional social scientists are more involved in reflecting upon the way Gaia philosophy is used and engaged with within sub-sections of society. Alan Marshall, in the Department of Social Sciences at Mahidol University, for example, reflects upon the way Gaia philosophy has been used and advocated in various societal settings by environmentalists, spiritualists, managers, economists, and scientists and engineers. As Marshall explains, most social scientists had already given up on systems ideas of society in the 1960s before Gaia philosophy was born under James Lovelock's ideas since such ideas were interpreted as supporting conservatism and traditionalism.[11] Gaia theory also influenced the dynamics of green politics.[12]

Gaia in religion[edit]

Rosemary Radford Ruether, the American feminist scholar and theologian, wrote a book called Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing.

A book edited by Allan Hunt Badiner called Dharma Gaia explores the ground where Buddhism and ecology meet through writings by the Dalai Lama, Gary Snyder, Thich Nhat Hanh, Allen Ginsberg, David Abram, Joanna Macy, Robert Aitken, and 25 other Buddhists and ecologists.[13]

Gaianism, an earth-centered philosophical, holistic, and spiritual belief that shares expressions with earth religions and paganism while not identifying exclusively with any specific religion, sprang from the gaia hypothesis.[12][14]

Criticism[edit]

One of the most problematic issues with referring to Gaia as an organism is its apparent failure to meet the biological criterion of being able to reproduce. Richard Dawkins has asserted that the planet is not the offspring of any parents and is unable to reproduce.[15]

See also[edit]

Books on Gaia[edit]

  • Alan Marshall (2002), The Unity of Nature, Imperial College Press.
  • Mary Midgley (2007), Earthy realism: the meaning of Gaia
  • Mary Midgley (2001), Gaia: the next big idea
  • Lawrence E. Joseph (1991), Gaia: the growth of an idea
  • Stephen Henry Schneider (2004), Scientists debate gaia: the next century
  • Allan Hunt Badiner (1990), Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology
  • George Ronald Williams (1996), The molecular biology of Gaia
  • Tyler Volk (2003), Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth
  • Norman Myers (1993), Gaia An Atlas of Planet Management
  • Anne Primavesi (2008), Gaia and Climate Change: A Theology of Gift Events
  • Anne Primavesi (2000), Sacred Gaia: holistic theology and earth system science
  • Anne Primavesi (2003), Gaia's gift: earth, ourselves, and God after Copernicus
  • Peter Bunyard (1996), Gaia in Action: Science of the Living Earth
  • Francesca Ciancimino Howell (2002), Making Magic with Gaia: Practices to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet
  • Pepper Lewis (2005), Gaia Speaks
  • Toby Tyrrell (2013), On Gaia

References[edit]

  1. ^ Of Natures obvious laws & processes in vegetation, Dibner MS 1031
  2. ^ 1974,The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher
  3. ^ L.G.M. Baas Becking (1931) 'Gaia of leven en aarde' (Gaia or life and earth), inaugural lecture for a chair at Leiden university.
  4. ^ "CAWeb - CAW Articles - Theagenesis: The Birth of the Goddess". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  5. ^ Waltham, David (2014). Lucky Planet: Why Earth is Exceptional – and What that Means for Life in the Universe. Icon Books. ISBN 9781848316560.
  6. ^ Beerling, David (2007). The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth's history. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280602-4.
  7. ^ Cockell, Charles; Corfield, Richard; Dise, Nancy; Edwards, Neil; Harris, Nigel (2008). An Introduction to the Earth-Life System. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521729536.
  8. ^ Tyrrell, Toby (26 October 2013), "Gaia: the verdict is…", New Scientist, 220: 30–31, doi:10.1016/s0262-4079(13)62532-4
  9. ^ a b Tyrrell, Toby (2013), On Gaia: A Critical Investigation of the Relationship between Life and Earth, Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 209, ISBN 9780691121581
  10. ^ "Gaia Hypothesis, Mythology, Metaphysics - Crystalinks". www.crystalinks.com. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  11. ^ The Unity of Nature, 2002, Imperial College Press: London and Singapore
  12. ^ a b Dobson, Andrew (1995). The Politics of Nature: Explorations in Green Political Theory. Routledge. pp. 8, 9, 14. ISBN 0415124719.
  13. ^ [1] Archived March 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Richard Peet, Nigel Thrift (1989). New Models in Geography - Vol 1: The Political-Economy Perspective. Routledge. pp. 90, 97–99. ISBN 0049101013.
  15. ^ Harding, Stephan (2006). Animate Earth. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 1-933392-29-0.
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