Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values

no cause for alarm; the economic system of capitalism has become more stable, conditions of life have improved vastly, in the former non-white colonies conditions have not actually worsened and Marx was wrong to reject the idea of gradual reform. No suggestion here of crisis in the economic system, of a crisis of energy resources; no suggestion of third world famine; no suggestion that there might be limits to ballot-box reform, that the rich may fight to protect what they have. No doubt the charge of complacency is unfair, but the general format of the book invites it. Finally, at one point Stevenson suggests that the seven different views are not necessarily all incompatible and can be seen as emphasizing different elements in the whole truth about humans. He backs away from this conclusion a bit, but in any introductory survey it should be shunned. Who will struggle to understand Sartre, if Sartre is simply emphasizing the element of moral responsibility in humans? Or Lorenz, if Lorenz is simply emphasizing the animal origins of some human behaviour? And it is hard to see what element Christianity is emphasizing: one cannot say the divine element unless one is a believer. The point that is likely to attract the beginner is that these rival views are subversive of received opinion, all in their different ways (including Christianity, taken seriously). To suggest otherwise may blunt enthusiasm. This is a book whose basic concept is dubious. Yet the concept is skillfully executed.