Environmental Interface

442 Pages·2016·2.33 MB·English

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERFACE
Literature, Law,
Science, and Philosophy

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERFACE
Literature, Law,
Science, and Philosophy

Editor
Jose Nandhikkara

2015
Dharmaram Publications
Bengauru 560029
Environmental Interface:
Literature, Law, Science, and Philosophy

By
Jose Nandhikkara CMI (Editor)
Email: [email protected]

© 2015, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru, India
ISBN: 978 93 84964 17-7

Published by
Dharmaram Publications, Bengaluru, India &
Globethics.net, Geneva, Switzerland
Published for
Centre for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) &
Globethics.net India
Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru, India
Printed at
Matha Printers, Bengaluru

Price: Rs. 450.00 / US$ 35.00

Dharmaram Publications
Dharmaram College, Bengaluru 560029, India
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Web: www.dharmarampublications.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial: Environment, A Common Heritage 7
and Responsibility Jose Nandhikkara

ENVIRONMENT AND LITERATURE
01 Buddhist Ecological Consciousness: A Holistic 15
Continuum
Mathew Chandrankunnel and Pranati Horijan
02 God Has Signed: Nature, Divinity and 41
Mysticism in the Poetry of Kuvempu
Abhaya N. B.
03 Green Writings of Arundhati Roy 5 1
Jaison Jose P.

ENVIRONMENT AND LAW
04 Environmental Justice: A Historical and 87
Philosophical Approach Davis Panadan
05 Jurisprudential Basis of the Right to Clean and 123
Healthy Environment Shampa I. Dev
06 Islamic Environmental Jurisprudence and 139
Conservation Practices in Malaysia
Mohd Istajib Mokhtar and Raihanah Abdullah
07 Water Rights in India: Law, Ethics, and 163
Governance
Sairam Bhat and Sukant Singh Rawat

ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE
08 Forestry for Sustainable Management 187
A. R. R. Menon
09 Nanotechnology towards Environmental 207
Sustainability M. K. Singh and Ajit K. Behura
6 Environmental Interface: Literature, Law, Science, and Philosophy

10 A Thermodynamic Approach to the Kinetics of 227
Environmental Pollution
Gregory Mathew Malayil
11 Nuclear Energy and Technology: Ecological- 245
Sociological Impacts with Special Reference to
Koodankulam, India
Sahaya Celestine Soosai

ENVIRONMENT AND PHILOSOPHY
12 Praxis and Theory of Environmental Marxism 271
Ferdinand D. Dagmang
13 All for Life; Life for All 289
Paulachan Kochappilly
14 Environmental Ethics to Holistic Ontology: A 311
Naessian Approach Jith Francis
15 Bio-Prospecting vs. Bio-Respecting: Seeing 329
Forests as Culturally Embedded Spaces
Maheshvari Naidu
16 Ecology vis- à-vis Human Ecology after Pope 353
Benedict XVI Liju Porathur
17 Theanthropocosmic Vision of the Bible: An 375
Alternative to the Cosmocentric and
Anthropocentric Visions
Jose Nandhikkara
18 Ec(h)o-Narrating Stories: Ecological Thought 393
and Metanarrativity in Folktales
Gaana Jayagopalan
19 Justice as Cry of the Earth: The Book of 425
Revelation in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil
Survivor 2
Jeane C. Peracullo
Editorial
ENVIRONMENT, A COMMON HERITAGE
AND RESPONSIBILITY
It is often said that Earth is our home; Indian tradition,
however, prefers to call Earth as mother. Truly we are
earthlings and we depend totally on Earth for our growth,
survival and development – individually and socially. Now,
even when we live and enjoy the benefits of science and
technology, there is a growing awareness that the quality of life
is progressively declining and the very existence of life on
earth are threatened by lifestyles that lead to the plundering of
natural resources for the benefit of the individual, society and
humanity in general at the exclusion and exploitation of the
rest of the reality, living and non-living. We forget the simple
truth that we live, move and have our being in a network of
relations with matter, microbes, plants, animals and other
human beings. The members of biotic community are our
sisters and brothers and we are duty bound to protect and
promote them. Though as human beings we have our unique
identity, we form part of the universe with the rest of the
world, who are not strangers or enemies but neighbours and
partners without whom human life is impossible.
Environmental crisis is a common problem for all of us. For a
long time the academia considered that Humanities and Social
Sciences are not directly related with environmental concerns;
they are scientific problems for which there would be solutions.
The contributions in this work would show that all branches of
human life are closely related with. Both humanities and sciences
should take into account the fundamental nature of ecology and
accept the fact that we cannot continue to use the goods of the
8 Environmental Interface: Literature, Law, Science, and Philosophy

earth as we had in the past. We need integrated and holistic
visions involving the knowledge of the sciences, wisdom of the
humanities and directives of religions. Environment is to be seen
from cosmic, human and religious perspectives. Environmental
Interface: Literature, Law, Science, and Philosophy is dedicated to
Earth, our Mother, and investigates the interface between
Environment and Literature, Law, Science and Philosophy.
This work is the fruit of the research workshops jointly
organised by the Centre for the Study of World Religions
(CSWR), Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru and
Globethics.net India in collaboration with the School of Law,
Christ University, Bengaluru and the Department of Geology
and Environmental Sciences, Christ College Irinjalakuda. The
19 articles, presented in four parts – Environment and
Literature, Environment and Law, Environment and Science,
and Environment and Philosophy – show clearly that the
Environmental Interface is fundamental to all significant aspects
of human life; all that is human has an Environmental Interface.
Environment and Literature
Literary and cultural forms that shaped the ways we see and
relate to the environment in which we live, move and have our
being. The environmental discourses include imaginative
attempts to understand our place in the cosmic scheme, and
pragmatic attempts to save the planet. Literary attention to the
environment shows the interface and influence of gender, race,
class, politics, religion, etc. in the character, plot, and setting.
How we represent environment can be as much a projection of
our own ‘nature’ or ‘culture’ as a reflection of nature and the
environment, so we have to explore those projections as we look
critically and creatively at the interface of “Environment and
Literature.”
“Environment, A Common Heritage and Responsibility” 9

Long before environmental disasters made their diabolical
appearances and thereby forced us to understand the inter-
connection of things, literature had shown that the welfare of
humanity depend on the well being of all beings. Nature is both
mysterious and beautiful; hence nature turned out to be a
primary inspiration to artists and sages. Environmental concerns
run parallel to, or are integrated with, other social and political
implications and environmental and literary activists highlight
the significance of environmentalism in literature against the
backdrop of the enormous ecological threats that the planet
earth faces at present.
Environment and Law
Laws are precepts of reason promulgated by someone who is in
authority for the common good. Nature is fragile and precious
and needs legal and political protection. We have made various
local, national and international laws to keep the home clear and
healthy. Green laws, protocols, sanctions and policies are rooted
in nature and oriented to community. Ecological crisis is a
common responsibility: everyone is affected and everyone is
responsible. Now the laws are to be expanded to protect and
promote the members of the biotic community. We have to open
up our horizons to see life from a cosmic perspective
complementing the human and the religious points of views.
The section, “Environment and Law” critically and
creatively examines the constitutional, legal and policy level
provisions for environmental protection. Though the political
constitutions binds the state and the citizens to protect and
improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers,
and wildlife, and most governments have a department or
ministry of environment, we see continuous exploitation of the
environment both by the state and citizens, mostly because of