Jainism and Ecology: Nonviolence in the Web of Life

By Christopher Key Chapple

Book Overview

The twenty-five-hundred-year-old tradition of Jainism, which emphasizes nonviolence as the only true path leading to liberation, offers a worldview seemingly compatible with the goals of environmental activism. But can Jainism adopt a sociocentric environmentalism without compromising its own ascetic principles and spiritual tradition? How does traditional Jain cosmology view the natural world? How might a Jain ethical system respond to decisions regarding the development of dams, the proliferation of automobiles, overcrowding due to overpopulation, or the protection of individual animal species? Can there be a Jain environmental activism that addresses both the traditional concern for individual self-purification and the contemporary dilemma of ecosystem degradation? The voices in this volume reflect the dynamic nature of the Jain faith and its willingness to engage in discussion on a modern social issue.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0945454341
• ISBN13: 9780945454342
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.3"