Reinventing Nature
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REINVENTING NATURE: SCIENCE NARRATIVES AS MYTHS FOR AN ENDANGERED PLANET A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by William John Grassie August 1994 Signature Page ii © by William John Grassie 1994 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT REINVENTING NATURE: SCIENCE NARRATIVES AS MYTHS FOR AN ENDANGERED PLANET by William John Grassie Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 1994 Main Advisor: Dr. John Raines This dissertation is a philosophical and ethical inquiry into the possibilities of a mythological treatment of the modern scientific cosmology in light of global environmental crises. I develop a method for this project by examining science as a philosophical and moral problem following the critiques of empiricism by Hilary Putnam and Thomas Kuhn, and then turning to radical deconstructions of science by Sandra Harding, Cornel West, and others. This discussion sets the stage for a shift to a hermeneutical approach to the sciences which I develop with the help of Paul Ricoeur. The dynamics of interpretation are extended in ways that illuminate the impact of metaphors, models and paradigm shifts on the content and culture of science. This social- biophysical hermeneutics better accounts for the actual phenomena of science, nature, and society, and provides pragmatic and productive possibilities for iv mythically "reinventing nature" as a way to reinvent human thought and behavior in this moment of evolutionary crisis. I then explore in The Universe Story by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme as an example of a new mythological approach to modern science. The authors "read" the scientific cosmology as a value-laden natural history which present humans with guidance at a moment of crisis in evolution. The three-fold Cosmogenetic Principle of differentiation, autopoiesis, and communion becomes a description of all phenomena at all moments in the evolutionary epic and a prescription for human adaptation strategies at the end of the Cenozoic era. I then reassess this discussion with the help of Donna Haraway on the basis of a radical postmodern hermeneutics that looks with suspicion on "one- true stories" as counter to emancipatory struggles. Haraway helps to more deeply ground this project within the power-charged dynamics of a hermeneutical conversation between human and nonhuman agents. I conclude with a hermeneutical conversation as a model for human- nature thought and behavior that promotes an environmental ethics and inspires an eco-justice movement of voluntary simplicity. This remythologization of science offers theoretical and motivational models for reinventing nature and ourselves in a mutually enhancing and sustainable manner. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Hidden in the pages of this dissertation is the material, intellectual, and emotional support of many people over this last five years of graduate studies. For the financial support and important affirmations of my project, I am in debt to the Mary Campbell Fellowship of the American Friends Service Committee, the Roothbert Foundation, the Institute for Religion in an Age of Science, and the Teaching Assistantships and Research Grant from the Religion Department at Temple University. Without this financial assistance, none of this would have been possible. I have been truly blessed with great teachers and readers in the Religion Department at Temple University, who have shepherded me through this process with wisdom and sensitivity. I acknowledge with a deep sense of gratitude: John Raines, my advisor, who first recruited me to the Religion Department and who has been a special helpmate and friend; Tom Dean, who brought me into the discourse on environmental ethics and who encouraged me over the years from afar; Laura Levitt, who made invaluable editorial comments on earlier drafts and insightful questions throughout the process; Norbert Samuelson, who introduced me to the Process Philosophy and Philosophy of Science and who was my conversation partner and friend; and Gibson Winter, who introduced me to the field of philosophical hermeneutics and who has been a special mentor for me. The graduate students in the Religion Department at Temple University have also been a special source of insight and support throughout this process. I would especially like to acknowledge the varied participants in the Wednesday morning hermeneutics seminars with Gibson Winter, who over the last five years have provided the opportunity for extraordinary struggle, insight, and growth. In vi particular, I would like to acknowledge Matthew Ally, who read and commented extensively on an earlier draft of this work. As a "cyborg" being, I must acknowledge as well the many machines, organisms, and elements that have sustained me in this process of study and writing. In particular, my Macintosh computer, printer, modem, and software have been essential tools in the crafting of this dissertation. These machines, the food and drink I have received, the fossil fuels I have consumed, and the Earth-scapes in my life also deserve some words of gratitude. Finally, I acknowledge the great debt to my family. My wife, Babette Jenny, has provided financial, emotional, and intellectual support throughout these ten years together and especially during the difficult months of writing and revising. My children, Elinor May and Gillian, have patiently put up with my studies and provided opportunities for joyful diversions. My mother, and my step- father, May and Bill Hatchard, and my mother-in-law, Elinor Jenny, have also offered significant encouragement and help. This dissertation is not simply the product of five years of graduate studies, it is the culmination of thirty-seven years of my personal evolution on this evolving planet. In my unfolding story, there are many significant places and faces, too numerous to mention here, that have led me to this moment. With a sense of awe and gratitude, I seek to embrace you all. Whatever wisdom and compassion is embodied in these pages has been received by me as a gift from others. The mistakes are all mine. Thank you. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................... vi LIST OF SCHEMATICS ......................................................................................... x CHAPTERS I. INTRODUCTION: WHY "REINVENT NATURE" ........................................... 1 1. The End of the Cenozoic: A Mythic Crisis in Evolution ........................... 1 2. Situated Epistemologies: Locating Myself ............................................ 15 3. Reinventing Nature: A Social-Biophysical Hermeneutics of Praxis ............................................................................................... 25 II. MODERN SCIENCE AS INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL PROBLEMS ...... 44 1. An Unorthodox Treatment of Modern Science ...................................... 44 2. What is "Modern" in Science ................................................................. 46 3. Logical Positivism: Moritz Schlick ......................................................... 48 4. Karl Popper's Falsification Theory and Hilary Putnam's Pragmatic Scientific Realism ...................................... 51 5. Social Constructionism: Thomas Kuhn's Historiographic Revolution ............................................................................................ 56 6. Radical Deconstructions of Modern Science as Ideology ..................... 61 7. Opening a Horizon for a Reconstructive, Mythic Treatment of Science ................................................................................................ 68 III. A HERMENEUTICAL APPROACH TO MODERN SCIENCE: EXTENDING PAUL RICOEUR'S WORK INTO THE BIOPHYSICAL SCIENCES ...................................................................... 74 1. Introduction to Hermeneutics and the Work of Paul Ricoeur ................ 74 2. Linguistics and Discourse: Langue and Parole .................................... 79 3. The Dialectic of Event and Meaning in Discourse ................................ 83 4. The Special Character of Writing as Discourse .................................... 87 5. The Problem of Metaphors and Symbols .............................................. 95 6. The Dialectic of Understanding and Explanation ................................ 103 7. Opening up the Hermeneutical Circle ................................................. 107 8. Extending Hermeneutics into the Social Sciences .............................. 115 9. The Problem of Ideology and its Correlation with Utopia .................... 120 viii 10. Utopia and Social Imagination .......................................................... 135 11. Narrative Structure of History and Fiction ......................................... 140 12. Extending Ricoeur into the Biophysical Sciences ............................. 148 IV. THE UNIVERSE STORY: THOMAS BERRY AND BRIAN SWIMME AS A CASE STUDY IN THE MYTHIC REINVENTION OF NATURE THROUGH SCIENCE NARRATIVES ..................................................... 154 1. Introduction to The Universe Story ..................................................... 154 2. The Cosmic Evolution Story ................................................................ 161 3. Philosophical Implications of the Cosmic Evolution Story .................. 169 4. Violence