THE WAY
by Goldsmith, Edward

An Ecological World-View

A revised and enlarged edition (first published by Rider in 1992) of this important book by one of the most influential figures of the international Green movement.

The Way first provides a radical critique of the 'world-view' of Modernism with which we have all been imbued, and whose role the author sees as being primarily to rationalize and legitimize economic development or 'progress'. It is faithfully reflected in modern science, including theoretical biology (Darwin's natural selection being but the biological version of Adam Smith's 'invisible hand'), today's reductionist and mechanistic 'New Ecology', and - possibly even more so - the social sciences, particularly modern economics.

The Way then presents the underlying principles of an ecological world-view which, for the author, must reflect the original 'chthonic' or earth-oriented religion of traditional societies. In terms of the latter, human welfare can only be assured by following the Way (the R'ta of Vedic India and the Tao of ancient China). It is by following the Way that the critical order of the 'Cosmos', of the natural world and of the human societies that it encompasses (all of which are organized on the same plan and governed by the same laws) can be maintained.

Discontinuities such as epidemics, droughts and floods are correctly seen as evidence that the society affected has diverted from the Way and that the critical order of the 'Cosmos' has been disrupted. The answer is to return to the Way, rather than divert still further from it by applying mega-technological expedients that can only further disrupt the order of the natural world.
The Ecological World-View, based on this principle, and proposed in The Way, is all-embracing and totally coherent. It is also consistent with a sustainable social behaviour pattern that satisfies real (biological, social, ecological and spiritual) needs.