Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia In Human Evolution And Development

by Stephen R. Kellert

Kinship to Mastery is a fascinating and accessible exploration of the notion of biophilia -- the idea that humans, having evolved with the rest of creation, possess a biologically based attraction to nature and exhibit an innate affinity for life and lifelike processes. Stephen R. Kellert sets forth the idea that people exhibit different expressions of biophilia in different contexts, and demonstrates how our quality of life in the largest sense is dependent upon the richness of our connections with nature.While the natural world provides us with material necessities -- food, clothing, medicine, clean air, pure water -- it just as importantly plays a key role in other aspects of our lives, including intellectual capacity, emotional bonding, aesthetic attraction, creativity, imagination, and even the recognition of a just and purposeful existence. As Kellert explains, each expression of biophilia shows how our physical, material, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual well-being is to a great extent dependent on our relationships with the natural world that surrounds us. Kinship to Mastery is a thought-provoking examination of a concept that, while not widely known, has a significant and direct effect on the lives of people everywhere. Because the full expression of biophilia is integral to our overall health, our ongoing destruction of the environment could have far more serious consequences than many people think. In a readable and compelling style, Kellert describes and explains the concept of biophilia, and demonstrates to a general audience the wide-ranging implications of environmental degradation. Kinship to Mastery continues the exploration of biophilia begun with Edward O. Wilson's landmark book Biophilia (Harvard University Press, 1984) and followed by The Biophilia Hypothesis (Island Press, 1993), co-edited by Wilson and Kellert, which brought together some of the most creative scientists of our time to explore Wilson's theory in depth.

Genres: Ecology

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. "Kinship and Mastery" is the work of Yale Environment professor Stephen Kellert, and one would think that a Yale professor would write a book of profound ideas and intellectual rigor. But you find none of that in this book. This book is about a concept called "biophilia", which is a fancy term for the love of living things. As Kellert describes it, this new term may very well be a synonym for the ancient concept of pantheism, which is the belief that God is nature and nature is God. If this were a book about pantheism, it would be a lot more interesting than "Kinship and Mastery". "Kinship and Mastery" lacks any semblance to a scientific work.

Kellert's main thesis in this book are the following three points 1) that human beings love nature, 2) that natural products make a huge contribution to the human economy, and 3) that the welfare of human beings depends largely on nature. The problem that I have with his theory is that it is a case of expounding on the obvious. It is like writing a book about how water is wet or fire is hot. I have never come across anyone who thinks that people hate nature, or that natural resources do not benefit manking economically, or that people are not affected by nature. Seriously, if any of you know of an author who disagrees with Kellert, please let me know because I would love to read that book. So, basically this is a book that expounds on a tautology, and expresses ideas that are obvious to everyone. Kellert embellishes his narrative with references to scientific articles, and he includes short stories to illustrate his points. Kellert uses lots of technical scientific language to disguise the silliness of his points. If one were to strip away the scientific jargon and the technical references, this book could very well have been a 5th grade essay on how the outdoors are really cool and people should take care of the environment. The level of Kellert's reasoning is about the level of a 10 year old even if he throws in Graduate level jargon.

The last couple of chapters of this book contain the obligatory warnings that every environmentalist loves to tell us - that the earth is becoming a festering toxic waste dump and soon all wildlife will die an ugly death. Such warnings were de rigeur in the 70s, but by the time this book was written in 1996, most of those warnings had been disproven. Still, Kellert feel compelled to repeat them to the reader. I would be annoyed by this, except that this is the only part of the book that shows any kind of propensity to make a point. From that perspective, the tired warnings are downright refreshing.

"Kinship and Mastery" is an intellectual scam, and you would do well to avoid it. It is a waste of your time and attention. Fortunately, as I see from the number of people who have reviewed this book, very few people have wasted their time with this thing.