Believing the earth loves us back would transform environmental ethics

Evidence

So I made it hypothetical and asked, “What do you suppose would happen if people believed this crazy notion that the earth loved them back?” The floodgates opened. They all wanted to talk at once. We were suddenly off the deep end, heading for world peace and perfect harmony. … One student summed it up: “You wouldn’t harm what gives you love.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 433

Categorization

• SEED: The ‘earth loves you back’ hypothetical is itself a pedagogical method — a concrete exercise for eco-justice classrooms.
• DEFINE: Defines the felt difference between one-way stewardship love and reciprocal belonging.
• XREF: connects to: Environmental ethics should centre identity, emotion, and particularity — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 700; Genuine rationality would treat the earth as a sustaining other rather than a resource — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 741; The philosophical-scientific worldview blocks environmental ethics from valuing insentient nature (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Andean ethics require reciprocal exchange with the earth as a living mother #exemplifies (0.90) — , A Year of World Stories, 10689
• The philosophical-scientific worldview blocks environmental ethics from valuing insentient nature #qualifies (0.85)