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The Determining Features of the Ecozoic Era

by Thomas Berry

by Thomas Berry

  1. Earth is a communion of subjects not a collection of objects.
  2. Earth exists and can survive only in its integral functioning. It cannot survive in fragments any more than any organism can survive in fragments. Yet, Earth is not a global sameness. It is a differentiated unity and must be sustained in the integrity and interrelations of its many bioregional modes of expression.
  3. Earth is a one-time endowment. It is subject to irreversible damage in the major patterns of its functioning.
  4. The human is derivative, Earth is primary. Earth must be the primary concern of every human institution, profession, program and activity. In economics, for instance, the first law of economics must be the preservation of the Earth economy. A rising Gross National Product with a declining Gross Earth Product reveals the absurdity of our present economy. It should be clear, in the medical profession, that we cannot have healthy people on a sick planet.
  5. The entire pattern of Excellence functioning of Earth is altered in the transition from the Cenozoic to the Ecozoic Era. The major developments of the Cenozoic took place entirely apart from any human intervention. In the Ecozoic, the human will have a comprehensive influence on almost everything that happens. While the human cannot make a blade of grass, there is [liable] not to be a blade of grass unless it is accepted, protected and fostered by the human. Our positive power of creativity in the natural life systems is minimal, while our power of negating is immense.
  6. Progress, to be valid, must include the entire Earth in all its component aspects. To designate human plundering of the planet as progress is an unbearable distortion.
  7. The Ecozoic can come into existence only though an appreciation of the feminine dimension of Earth, through a liberation of women from the oppressions and the constraints that they have endured in the past, and through the shared responsibility of both women and men for establishing an integral Earth community.
  8. A new role exists for both science and technology in the Ecozoic period. Science must provide a more integral understanding of the functioning of Earth and how human activity and Earth activity can be mutually enhancing. Our biological sciences especially need to develop a “feel for the organism,” a greater sense of the ultimate subjectivities present in the various living beings of Earth. Our human technologies must become more coherent with the technologies of the natural world.
  9. New ethical principles must emerge which recognize the absolute evils of biocide and geocide as well as the other evils concerned more directly with the human.
  10. New religious sensitivities are needed that will recognize the sacred dimension of Earth and that will accept the natural world as the primary manifestation of the divine.
  11. A new language, an Ecozoic language, is needed. Our language is radically inadequate. A new dictionary should be compiled with new definitions of existing words and an introduction of new words for the new modes of being and functioning that are emerging.
  12. Psychologically all the archetypes of the collective unconscious attain a new validity and a new pattern of functioning, especially in our understanding of the symbols of the Tree of Life, the heroic journey, death and rebirth, the mandala and the Great Mother.
  13. New developments can be expected in ritual, in all the arts, and in literature. In drama especially, extraordinary opportunities exist in the monumental issues that are being worked out in these times. The conflicts that until now have been situated simply within the human drama are magnified considerably through the larger contours of conflict as these emerge in this stupendous transition from the terminal Cenozoic to the emerging Ecozoic. What we are dealing with is in epic dimensions beyond anything thus far expressed under this term.
  14. Mitigation of the present ruinous situation, the recycling of materials, the diminishment of consumption, the healing of damaged ecosystems—all this will be in vain if we do these things to make the present industrial systems acceptable. They must all be done, but in order to build a new order of things.

Handout from the library of Santa Sabina Conference Center, San Rafael, California, 2004, except that Item 7 is from a similar list presented by Thomas Berry at an annual conference of the Center for Reflection on the Second Law held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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NEW BIOGRAPHY ON THOMAS BERRY AT A 30% DISCOUNT

Columbia University Press published the first biography on Thomas Berry in spring 2019. The book was written by Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, and Andrew Angyal. The book was released just prior to the 10thanniversary of Thomas Berry’s death on June 1, 2019. Information on the book and how to pre-order it at a 30% discount are available here.

Berry was one of the 20thcentury’s most important thinkers. He had encyclopedic knowledge which he synthesized in books such as The Dream of the Earth and The Great Work. His works were intellectually profound, inspiring, and evocative. Anne Marie Dalton termed the latter characteristic poesis. His presentations, written work, and conversations changed the lives of many people and gave rise to a historic movement that is continuing.

 


FREE ACCESS TO ONLINE COURSES ON
JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE AND THOMAS BERRY

 Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Yale University, are offering four six-week online courses. Brian Thomas Swimme provides introductory comments. These are featured as a specialization under the title:  “Journey of the Universe: A Story for our Times.” They are available in English and in Chinese.

This specialization includes two courses on Journey of the Universe and a course on TheWorldview of Thomas Berry. Each of these courses can be taken independently, followed by an Integrating Capstone course. These are MOOCs available on Coursera to anyone, anywhere on the planet.

Learners may audit these courses FREE OF CHARGE (with the exception of the capstone course). Or learners may register for all of the courses for a small fee and, upon completion, receive a specialization certificate. The courses do not have to be completed within the six-week period, rather, learners may take the classes and finish at their own pace.

Courses:

  • Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding of Life (film & book)
  • Journey Conversations: Weaving Knowledge and Action
  • The Worldview of Thomas Berry: Flourishing of the Earth Community
  • Integrating Capstone: Living Cosmology (only available as part of the specialization certificate—not available to audit)

For more details and to register, go to:

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/journey-of-the-universe

 

 

 

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