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Complementarity Beyond Physics pp 183–248Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Anthropological Complementarity of the Natural and Cultural

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Abstract

Bohr held human action to involve two complementary orientations of yielding to nature and controlling it at the same time. Bohr connected such anthropological complementarity to the double-aspect of the feminine (yin) and masculine (yang) principles in Taoist philosophy. It led him to select the Chinese yin-yang symbol for the crest on his shield when he was awarded a knighthood. This chapter argues that Bohr’s anthropological complementarity also has parallels in modern ecofeminist thought and their critique of our economic relations with nature, and traces the implications of the anthropological complementarity for economic theory and social relations that we establish with nature. It thereby vindicates Bohr’s view that anthropological complementarity has significant implications for the social sciences in general.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Arun Bala

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  1. Arun Bala
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Bala, A. (2017). Anthropological Complementarity of the Natural and Cultural. In: Complementarity Beyond Physics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39784-9_4

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