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I READING BEYOND ROOTS: the THEOLOGICAL and WEBERIAN READING BEYOND ROOTS: THE THEOLOGICAL AND WEBERIAN ASPECTS OF LYNN WHITE’S SCHOLARSHIP A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Division of Religion Drew University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree. Doctor of Philosophy Matthew Timothy Riley Drew University Madison, New Jersey April 2016 i ABSTRACT Reading Beyond Roots: The Theological and Weberian Aspects of Lynn White’s Scholarship Ph.D. Dissertation by Matthew Timothy Riley Graduate Division of Religion Drew Theological School April 2016 Although best known for his perceived critiques of Christianity in his 1967 article, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” this dissertation draws upon Lynn Townsend White, jr.’s lesser-known texts and unpublished archival materials to reassess White’s work. I argue that depictions of White that rely solely on reductionistic readings of “Historical Roots” obscure the theoretically rich and nuanced theoretical and methodological underpinnings of his work. The goal of this dissertation, then, is to expand upon the intellectual legacy of White and to develop a deeper understanding of his ideas by exploring his larger body of work, examining his use of Max Weber’s social theory, and by highlighting his religious life and theological ideas, most notably his articulation of a “spiritual democracy of all God’s creatures.” Since White’s work is a primary shaper of much of the scholarship in the field of religion and ecology, I argue that scholars must not just look to White’s critiques, but also to the ii solutions he gives. This provides scholars a broader range of resources and ideas from which to draw as they explore the core issue of religion’s efficacy in addressing the environmental crisis. These include, but are not limited to, White’s constructive theological concepts and his Weberian (or ideo-centric materialist) understanding of the relationship between changes in religious ideas and values and environmental attitudes and behavior. As a project of rehabilitation, this research provides a richer, more accurate portrayal of White’s intellectual and theological legacy and also attempts to address lacunae and misunderstandings present in the scholarship of those who have responded to, agreed with, and criticized White. In doing so, this dissertation is an invitation to scholars to utilize these findings to rethink the way in which White’s work is used in discussing the relationship between religious ideas, values, and environmental attitudes and action. This dissertation is the first monograph length assessment of the life and work of White. iii Contents One Introduction: The “Lynn White Thesis” 1 Two Lynn White’s Scholarship: A Historical Overview 59 Three White and Ecotheology 140 Four Lynn White’s Weberian Roots 185 Five Conclusion: From Iconoclast to Ideo-Centric Materialist 249 Appendix 1 312 Bibliography 331 iv 1 – Introduction: The “Lynn White Thesis” Few publications on the subject of religion and ecology can generate the same magnitude of emotional response as that engendered by Lynn Townsend White jr.’s1 infamous 1967 article, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” (hereafter referred to as “Historical Roots”). A source of continuous debate and controversy, the core argument in “Historical Roots,” which has been dubbed the “Lynn White thesis,”2 essentially states that “Christianity bears a huge burden of guilt”3 for the ecological crisis. In order to arrive at this conclusion, White proposed that Western attitudes towards science and technology, which he viewed as the chief source of the current ecological crisis, stemmed from social and ethical shifts that occurred in the Middle Ages.4 These 1 White preferred that his name be spelled with a lower-case “j” in “jr.” In honor of his wishes, I will 2 I place the phrase “Lynn White thesis” in quotes to indicate that there is no singular agreement upon what exactly the “Lynn White thesis” is. It has become common practice to refer to one or several aspects of White’s argument in “Historical Roots” as the “Lynn White thesis,” for example, using it to refer to his argument about biblical dominion or his suggestion that religion is both part of the problem and the solution to the environmental crisis. However, I resist using the term because it obscures both the complexity of White’s multi-layered argument and also the continuously evolving nature of White’s thought on the subject of religion and ecology. Thus, where others might refer to the “Lynn White thesis,” I instead use terms that hint at the plurality or changing nature of White’s work (e.g. “White’s arguments in ‘Historical Roots,’” “White’s hypotheses,” or “White’s ideas”). 3 Lynn Townsend White, jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science 155, no. 3767 (March 10, 1967): 1206. 4 White, “Historical Roots,” 1207. 1 2 shifts, he contended, could be traced to underlying ideas and values endorsed by mainstream forms of Latinized, Medieval Christianity such as the scriptural command to have “dominion” over the earth, the Christian belief in linear time and historical progress,5 and the belief that humanity shares (at least in part) God’s transcendence over nature. “Christianity, in absolute contrast to ancient paganism [i.e. pre-Christian European religions that viewed non-human nature as alive and imbued with spirits] and Asia’s religions,” he wrote, “not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God’s will that man exploit nature for his proper ends.”6 He concluded “Historical Roots” by saying that one cannot just look to technology and science to fix the ecological crisis; rather, one must examine and work to change the “root” cause of the problem, namely the core religious ideas and values which make environmentally destructive behavior morally acceptable. If he is correct in this assessment, then it is necessary to “find a new religion, or rethink our old one [i.e. Western, Latinized Christianity].”7 This summary of White’s argument is purposefully simplistic. In this dissertation I argue that depictions of White such as this one obscure the theoretically rich and nuanced theoretical and methodological underpinnings of his work. The goal of this dissertation, then, is to expand upon the intellectual legacy of White and to develop a deeper understanding of his ideas by exploring his larger body of work, examining his 5 Ibid., 1205. 6 Ibid., 1207. 7 Ibid., 1206. White distinguished between Latin, Medieval Christianity and other Greek forms of Christianity. The former, he argued, allowed for the particular ecologically destructive attitudes towards nature that drive the current environmental crisis while Greek forms of Christianity did not do so to the same degree. 3 use of Max Weber’s social theory, and by highlighting his religious life and theological ideas. The unflagging presence of “Historical Roots,” whether praised for its perspicacity or hastily disavowed for its perceived impudence, is an unmistakable landmark dominating the intellectual horizon for those who study the relationship between religion and the environment. It is at once iconic and iconoclastic. “The claims made for the impact of White’s thought are sometimes startling,” observes Elspeth Whitney, a historian and leading analyst of White’s work on religion and ecology.8 Originally given as a speech in 1966 and then printed in the American Academy for the Advancement of Science’s academic journal Science, one of the most widely read peer- reviewed scientific journals in the world, White’s “Historical Roots” is frequently touted as “the single most cited article in the entire history of that periodical.”9 Although a well-respected historian and an expert on medieval technology, White’s foray into religious and ecological issues has been repeated, ramified, and renounced in a wide array of academic disciplines: he is cited frequently by environmental ethicists, ecotheologians cannot seem to escape the irresistible allure of his ideas, and his conclusions have become so ingrained in environmental studies that it has been called a part of popular “environmental ‘folklore’”10 and has even been dubbed “a 8 Elspeth Whitney, “Christianity and Changing Concepts of Nature: An Historical Perspective,” in Religion and the New Ecology: Environmental Responsibility in a World of Flux, ed. David M. Lodge and Christopher Hamlin (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006): 32. 9 Leslie Elmer Sponsel, Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2012): 75. 10 Elspeth Whitney, “Lynn White, Ecotheology, and History,” Environmental Ethics 15, no. 2 (Spring, 1993): 158. 4 virtual cliché.”11 White’s critique of religion “has been endlessly reproduced”12 and discussed in publications like the Sierra Club Bulletin, Christian Century, Time magazine and the New York Times,13 and it was even reprinted in part in the Boy Scout Handbook.14 White’s impact on the study of religion and the environment has been equally significant. In the five decades since its original publication, hundreds of books and articles, most of them by ecotheologians and historians, have been written as a direct response to it.15 However “startling” these claims might be, to borrow Whitney’s phrase, it is difficult to overstate the impact of White’s scholarship on popular culture and environmental studies. For most scholars in the field of religion and ecology, there is a commonly held sense that the discipline is still wrestling with the same questions and doubts voiced by White’s first respondents: Is religion really to blame for the environmental crisis? If so, how and to what extent? Do the world’s religions have the intellectual and spiritual 11 Bert S. Hall and Ranald Mackenzie Macleod, “Technology, Ecology and Religion: Thoughts on the Views of Lynn White,” in Design and Production in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Essays in Honor of Bradford Blaine, ed.
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