The Arrs in Psychofhqrapy, Vol. 20, pp. 93-95, 1993 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

0197-4556/93 $6.00 + .OO Copyright 0 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd.

BOOK REVIEW

The Voice of the Earth

Theodore Roszak

(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, 367 pages, $23.00)

This is a book about ecopsychology and to read it is to take a fresh look at the disciplines it strives to blend. It is a book with an important message, a mes- sage that is simple in its outlines and complicated in its nuances. And it is a book written in a manner that is both scholarly and provocative. I was consistently impressed with the way the author has interlaced the thought and research of experts from a diversity of fields in support of his worldview. At the same time, I found myself engaging in imaginary arguments with him when confronted with some of his more contro- versial ideas.

Author Theodore Roszak is Professor of History and General Studies at California State University. One of his previous books, The Making of a Coun- terculture (1969), is credited with coining the term that named a generation. Broadening his perspective in the current work, he has built a case for the exis- tence of “mind” in nonhuman nature and for a pur- posefully evolving cosmos. He alerts us to the need for an emotional reconnection with the biosphere on which we depend. And he points to a form of psy- chopathology that goes beyond the individual psyche. As he states in the book’s preface:

While sex and violence continue to smolder in the depths of minds that do reside in human heads, the anguish of what I will call the “eco- logical unconscious” has emerged in our time as a deeper imbalance. At this level, we dis- cover a repression that weighs upon our inher- ited sense of loyalty to the planet that mothered

the human mind into existence. If psychosis is the attempt to live a lie, the epidemic psychosis of our time is the lie of believing we have no ethical obligation to our planetary home. (pp. 13-14)

Roszak’s carefully layered discourse is divided into three sections: “Psychology,” “Cosmology,” and “Ecology. ” These titles serve to indicate the pri- mary rather than the exclusive focus of each section in as much as the interplay among the disciplines is con- tinually stressed. In the first section, he presents what he views as the failure of contemporary approaches to psychotherapy. Focused on societal concerns and de- mands, these approaches, he believes, too frequently serve to maintain a disconnection between the indi- vidual and the natural environment. Using recon- structed “stone-age psychiatry” as a model, he sug- gests that more animism and less mechanistic science would improve the psychotherapist’s methods. That is, facilitating a greater appreciation for the “inherent system-building tendency” of matter (or nature’s mind) could help to revitalize a long-lost sensibility.

Those of us who are therapists might be tempted to defend our profession. After all, Roszak does seem to have an overly romantic view of some forms of men- tal illness-having apparently come under the sway of R. D. Laing and Thomas Szasz. However, his basic criticism has merit, and creative arts therapists can feel encouraged. He indicates that the arts have deep associations when he states,

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What simpler creatures understand unreflec- tively by way of an odor, a color, a physical hunger, we must learn by way of discursive intelligence from a folk tale or a religious cer- emony. Perhaps this is what art originally was: an act of collective imagination meant to recap- ture the memory of instinctual union. (pp. 91-92)

We are introduced to the section on cosmology with the admonition that, as products of our time, we cannot reclaim any of our original sensibility to nature without taking modem science into account. This is not as paradoxical as it sounds. Recent developments in cosmology, physics, and biology-such as the “big bang” model of the origin of the universe and general systems theory-have altered our understand- ing of the natural world. The mechanical cosmos of Newtonian physics has been supplanted by a con- struction of the universe that is more like mind than machine. In this new model, Roszak finds support for what he calls the “new Deism,” a frankly teleologi- cal doctrine. The essential tenet of the new Deism is that there is a purposeful continuity between the or- dered complexity of nature and of human life and intelligence that goes back to the beginning of the universe. Roszak offers this unconventional theology as a unifying worldview with the potential for facili- tating emotional reinvestment in the environment.

There are some problems with the evidence that Roszak marshals to uphold his thesis, however. As he admits, two sources of support-the anthropic prin- ciple and the Gaia hypothesis-are highly controver- sial. (In simplified terms, the first argues that because we require such special circumstances for existence, the universe must exist for us; the second proposes that planet earth is itself a giant organism.) Further, he resorts to specious arguments in his efforts to dis- credit the agnostic stance of science. For example, he attacks scientists for using the second law of thermo- dynamics to promote a “morbid vision” of a dying universe. The second law states that the entropy (dis- order) of a closed system tends to increase. But it does not necessarily follow that the universe is running down, and today’s scientists acknowledge this. They are uncertain as to whether the universe is open or closed and thus are not able to predict its fate. Finally, there is a significant omission. Mind and Nature: A Necessaq Unity by Gregory Bateson (1979) receives

no mention in this section-r in any other part of the book. It is highly unlikely that someone as erudite as Roszak is unfamiliar with work that could be consid- ered a precursor of his own. Perhaps Bateson’s less metaphysical treatment of the correspondence be- tween mind and nature explains this apparent over- sight.

These criticisms notwithstanding, those who seek signs of the spiritual in the universe will undoubtedly be heartened by Roszak’s views, and those who do not will find much to chew on. For those from either group who would like to pursue these issues further, there is an appendix containing an annotated bibliog- raphy on “God and Modem Cosmology. ”

In the final section on ecology, the viewpoint is narrowed-to the biosphere and the individual within-and the book’s message becomes less ab- struse. Patriarchal society’s drive to conquer and ex- ploit is contrasted with ecofeminism (a nature- oriented offshoot of the feminist movement). And we are cautioned that if we want ecological sanity, we must build a bridge between masculine and feminine approaches. In addition, the value of diversity is em- phasized and the quest for self-knowledge is lauded. Instead of subordinating personal needs to the indus- trial economy, we can recognize and appreciate our uniqueness and, by so doing, feel moved to assume our larger responsibility. We are told, “The endan- gered species, the imperilled biosphere, cannot speak for themselves. We must be their voice. We speak for them when we speak for the personhood that is en- dangered by the same forces that burden the planetary environment” (p. 280).

The last chapter outlines a political agenda that is succinctly stated: “Scale down. Slow down. Democ- ratize. Decentralize” (p. 311). The motivation to bring this about, Roszak insists, must arise from within. He suggests that this will only happen if we explore ourselves at the deepest level-at the level of the ecological unconscious. Neither present-day ther- apy nor ecology can assist us here; what is required is an amalgam of the two. The book’s narrative comes full circle by concluding with an epilogue listing the principles of ecopsychology.

This conclusion is esthetically satisfying. Nonethe- less, it strikes me as incomplete. To await evolving changes in consciousness seems unnecessarily passive and runs the risk of being too little too late. Techno- logical advancement is proceeding very rapidly and is not likely to be deflected by slow-paced evolution

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alone. The diversity of thought that Roszak feels will facilitate the emergence of the ecological ego from the ecological unconscious can spur social change as well. Thus it seems wiser to consider ecopsychology one approach among a number of others-including various forms of political action by those who already appreciate the need.

But whatever its flaws, The Voice of the Earth challenges us to reassess our approach to therapy and to the world. Given the worsening environmental cri- sis, we cannot afford to sidestep this challenge.

Frances Fisher Kaplan, DA, ATR Coordinator, Creative Arts Therapy Program

Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11550

References

Bateson, G. (1979). Mind and nature: A necessary unity. New York: Dutton.

Roszak, T. (1969). The making of a counterculture: Reflections on the technocratic society and its youthful opposition. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.