A Better World is Possible

Exploring How Valuing Nature Intrinsically Enriches All Life

Abstract

The present article is based on a workshop conducted at the 2015 Robert S Hartman Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, as an attempt to bring the topic of the nature of the world to our attention, exploration, reflection and connect it both with axiology and with our daily life routines and activities. Following the threefold axiological approach to knowledge, first there was a theoretical exploration of the concept of the world through a variety of thought systems, followed by incursion into the world of senses – the extrinsic type of knowing – and then by the guided experience of connecting with one life form – the intrinsic type of knowing. The key thesis of this exploration is that the world has intrinsic value. If this is correct, the implications are vast, worth exploring, and particularly promising for our ecological wisdom. A summary of some selected thought systems and practices that are congruent with this proposal is offered as an invitation to readers to further explore and contribute to this co-creating new view about the nature of the world. The present article will focus mainly on the systemic dimension, offering a collection of personal thoughts, together with a variety of references for classes of ideas that exist already in the world. At the end, readers will find a short description of the workshop per se – the practical and experiential dimensions.