The female earth was central to premodern organic cosmology
Evidence
The ancient identity of nature as a nurturing mother links women’s history with the history of the environment and ecological change. The female earth was central to the organic cosmology that was undermined by the Scientific Revolution and the rise of a market-oriented culture in early modern Europe. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 61
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the organic cosmology and its anchor in the female-earth identity, core terminology for the course.
- XREF: connects to: Neoplatonic cosmology retained a female world-soul as the source of natural motion — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 458; Premodern thinkers conceived the cosmos as a living male-female animal — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 449; Copernicus’s cosmology displaced the female earth for a masculine sun — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 539 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Neoplatonic cosmology retained a female world-soul as the source of natural motion
#expands(0.92) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 458 - Premodern Europeans personified nature as a female being of many guises
#expands(0.90) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 70 - Premodern thinkers conceived the cosmos as a living male-female animal
#expands(0.88) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 449 - Copernicus’s cosmology displaced the female earth for a masculine sun
#responds-to(0.85) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 539