On the Nature of Ecological Paradox

lt;b>Michael Charles Tobias is a global ecologist, anthropologist, historian, explorer, author and filmmaker. He obtained his Ph.D. in the Department of History of Consciousness from the University of California-Santa Cruz. Tobias is the author of more than 45 books (both fiction and non-fiction, as well as several edited anthologies). In addition to his numerous books and published research papers, he has written, directed, produced, executive produced or co-executive produced well over 100 films - TV series, documentaries and dramas, most pertaining to environmental, cultural, social or scientific issues. In 1996, Dr Tobias received the "Courage of Conscience Award" for his commitment to nature and non-violence. In 2004 he was the recipient of the Parabola Focus Award for his long-standing body of work aimed at creating a better world.

Jane Gray Morrison is an ecologist whose work has taken her to over 30 countries. As a filmmaker, Ms. Morrison has produced numerous films for such networks as Discovery, PBS (where she also Co-Directed "A Day in the Life of Ireland" for Irish Television and WNET/New York) and Turner Broadcasting for which she served as Senior Producer for "Voice of the Planet," a 10-hour dramatic series based upon the history of life on Earth. Ms. Morrison recently completed a feature film documentary trilogy, "Mad Cowboy," "No Vacancy" and "Hotspots," as well as her recent short film, "Yasuní - A Meditation on Life" for the Rio+20 Summit. For eleven + years Ms. Morrison has served as the Executive Vice President of Dancing Star Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on the interdisciplinary humanities and social justice movements as they concern humankind's relationship to the natural world.

Foreword.- Preface.- Part 1. Tractatus Ecologia Paradoxi.- Introduction.- On the Nature of Paradox.- Ecological Problems and Paradigmatic Solutions.- Protected Area Dilemmas.- The Paradox of Protection.- The Ecclesiastes Factor.- Pathologies of Self-Image.- Paradoxical Frontiers.- The Obsolescence of Presuppositions.- Ecological Contradiction, Antinomy and Counter-Intuition.- Heavy and Light Contingencies of Consciousness.- The Paradise Paradox.- Codex Sinaiticus.- Russell's Paradox as Ecological Proxy.- The Evolution of Innocence and Strategy.- Tatters and Poignancies.- The Echoes of Malhazine.- A Cave at Taranga.- A Village in Prince Christian Sound.- The Grampians.- The Yasuní Effect.- Sakteng.- A River Somewhere in Georgia.- Jan Van Goyen's Exquisite Obsession.- Paradox of the Lamb.- Botanical Equations for Paradox.- Part 2. Ecological Memories and Fractions.- The Metaphysics of Photography.- The Consolations of a Château.- Book of the Dead.- Ecological Double-Binds.- The Temptation of the Catastrophe: Deep Structures of Suicide.- Cave Paintings of the Mind.- Moral Choices in an Epoch of Angst.- The Dream of Don Quixote.- The Ratiocinations of Rakiura.- Human Evolution at a Glance within Ryoan-ji.- The Paradox of Light.- The Last Numbers of Emptiness.- Shelley's Ecological Exile and His Utopia of Animal Rights.- The Zoosemiotic Paradox of Aesop.- The Conical Temple of Konawsh.- Does Natural Selection Select for Natural Selection?.- The Paradox of Solace.- Collodi's Garden and the Misadventures of Pinocchio.- The Poetics of Biodiversity: Kazantzakis and Crete.- Famine in Bangladesh.- Sakya Coming Out of his Mountain Retreat.- The Mind of a Chicken.- The Christ Paradox.- Unthinkable Nullities, Negative Proofs.- Irrational Biomes.- The Extinction Probability Era.- Non-Linear Reciprocity.- The Unfettered Gaze.- No Equation for It: Numbers with No Attachment.- A Situational Animal Rights Ethic.- The Geography of Contradiction.- Metaphysical Landscapes.- Savery's Castle of Secrets.- Human Cruelty and SARS-CoV-2.- Part 3. A Natural History of Existentialism.- Strange Connectors.- The Synecological Conscience.- The Ecological Summons of Jain Mathematical Calculations.- Fundaments of Observation and Melancholy.- The Great Divergence.- Mismatches.- True Narcissism.- Caesuras of Certainty.- The Other.- Of Malignant Variables.- The Concept of Zero.- On the Nature of Equivalencies.- Metaphorical Realities.- Ecological Epistemology.- The Natural Selection of Indeterminacy .- Imagining Transitions.- The Finely-Honed Basis of Unknowing.- The Buddhist Obtuse and its Ecological Correlates.- Ecological Emptiness.- Temptational Obscurity That Brings Hope to Life.- Biological Proxies for the Individual.- Shifting Balance.- Comes Crashing Down Upon It.- Systems Paradox.- The Final Hermitage of Ideals.- The Paradox of Prayer.- Forgiveness.- Rebirth.- The Cycle of Alterities.- The Individual and the Circumference.- Non-Linear Ethics.- A Lost Species.- Ecological Idealism.- The Problem of Interdependency.- A Metaphysics of Naturalism.- The Phylogenetic Conundrum.- The Biosphere Beyond Humanity.- The Anthropic Syllogism.- The Last Island.- Coda: Liberation Ecosynthesis.- Index.