This talk reflects on how the ecological crisis has promoted an interdisciplinary collaboration including a relative openness by "harder" sciences to questions of ethics, spirituality and religion. It employs the thought of Michael Northcott to describe the emergence of ecological ethics, how it has related to preexisting schools of philosophical ethics and some residual challenges regarding the capacity of philosophy to produce solutions in disciplines such as economics. It notes how Lynn White in the 1960s identified the anthropocentrism of the Christian religion as contributing to the ecological crisis, leading to an interest in spiritualities other than Christianity as relevant to an ecologically responsible culture. However, it suggests that a distance can remain between such reflection and the policy proposals required by social scientists and policy makers.
The second half of this presentation introduces the thought of Robert M. Doran as providing foundations for an interdisciplinary ecological reflection. It notes the closeness of Doran's thought to that of his mentor, Bernard Lonergan. It introduces how the latter suggests intellectual and moral conversion as a basis of an interdisciplinary method including science, ethics, and religion. Next, it presents the criticism Doran makes of Lonergan, including the suggestion that Lonergan over-emphasises rational, self-transcending "spirit," and undervalues the principle of limitation in consciousness represented by the psyche. It also traces Doran's suggestion that this imbalance participates in the imperialistic tendencies of European culture that have destructive consequences for the environment.
It concludes by commenting on the success of Laudato Si', that calls for an "integral ecology" and presents a Doranian interpretation of integral ecology combining a "contemplative" attitude with a rigorous prescription for interdisciplinary collaboration within an ecologically sensitive, modern, culture.