ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an overview of the relevance of qualitative inquiry and an interpretive methodology to the present study. This approach supports the notion that the creative humanities in general, and ethical analysis in particular, may reveal a novel mode of motive force for change with regard to the global environmental crisis. These introductory comments are followed by a discussion of the tension between one metanarrative and multiple local, issue-specific narratives, concluding that the former brings to light the form, function, and features of the whole which are unique to the aggregated totality, such as the fact that the human species is embedded in a global socio-ecological complex which may or may not evolve according to our wishes and needs. Finally, this chapter emphasizes the fact that the environmental crisis confronts us with a unique ethical challenge and concludes that a ‘moral turn’ would be useful and appropriate.
