
In Light of Our Differences
How Diversity in Nature and Culture Makes Us Human
David Harmon(Author)
Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press
Published on 17. September 2002
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-58834-066-5 (ISBN)
Description
Most scientists would agree that a sixth mass extinction is on the horizon unless radical changes are made in how Western society treats nature. At the same time, another extinction crisis is unfolding: the loss of many of the world's languages. More and more work in applied biology, anthropology, linguistics, and other related fields is now driven by the assumption that we are approaching a threshold of irreversible loss, that events during the next few decades will decide whether we cross over into a fundamentally changed and significantly diminished world. This leads to a very simple question that has not, until now, been answered satisfactorily: Why should anyone care? David Harmon takes a unique approach to answering this essential question by drawing on insights from conservation biology, evolutionary theory, linguistics, geography, psychology, philosophy, and ethics. His interconnected discussion explores the works of Voltaire, A.O. Lovejoy, Darwin, Wittgenstein, William James, Dobzhansky, and many others to explain why everyone must be concerned about the loss of diversity.
When more and more elemental differences are erased from the natural world and human societies, the field of possible experience becomes more constricted and our essential humanity becomes jeopardized. The very reason our planet can be said to be alive is because an amazing variety of organisms, streams of human thought and behavior, and geophysical features exist that provide a congenial setting for the interworkings of nature and culture. Harmon's timely, important book elucidates how as we lose diversity, we risk losing ourselves.
When more and more elemental differences are erased from the natural world and human societies, the field of possible experience becomes more constricted and our essential humanity becomes jeopardized. The very reason our planet can be said to be alive is because an amazing variety of organisms, streams of human thought and behavior, and geophysical features exist that provide a congenial setting for the interworkings of nature and culture. Harmon's timely, important book elucidates how as we lose diversity, we risk losing ourselves.
Reviews / Votes
[Harmon] has gone where no one else has gone-to the historic intellectual underpinnings of discourse about diversity, unity, and heterogeneity, and with this link in place, the rest of the book has the potential to declare this issue one of the four or five great intellectual issues of mankind. [Harmon's analysis] of patterns of biodiversity and cultural diversity have always been unsurpassed, but now he's added the missing ling-why any scholar or citizen should care about thse issues. It's a tour de force in terms of fresh insights and in terms of scholarly research. -- Gary Nabhan, Director, Center for Sustainable EnvironmentsMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Washington
United States
Publishing group
Smithsonian Books
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-58834-066-5 (9781588340665)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
David Harmon cofounded Terralingua, an international nonprofit organization supporting the world's linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. He is also executive director of the George Wright Society, an association of researchers and resource managers advancing the scientific and heritage values of parks and other protected areas.
Content
Chapter 1 Voltaire's Solution Chapter 2 The Converging Extinction Crises Chapter 3 Species, Languages, and the Structure of Diversity Chapter 4 What We Do With Difference Chapter 5 Diversity and the Human Indentity