In Acedia: The Darkness Within (and the Darkness of Climate Change), Dr. Dave MacQuarrie presents one of the most provocative interdisciplinary works of the decade—a sustained argument that humanity's inability to confront global warming and ecological collapse stems not from technological limitations or political obstruction alone, but from a profound spiritual-psychological condition the ancient world called acedia. A retired physician-psychotherapist with twenty-five years of clinical experience, MacQuarrie resurrects this forgotten term from Christian monastic tradition and deploys it as a diagnostic lens for understanding contemporary civilization's paralysis in the face of existential threat.

The book is simultaneously scholarly and accessible, historically grounded and urgently contemporary. It addresses both longtime scholars of spiritual ecology and general readers seeking to understand why—despite overwhelming evidence and moral imperative—we continue to delay action on climate change. At its core, Acedia makes a radical claim: climate change is "not a technological problem. It is a spiritual-ethical problem," and its resolution requires what MacQuarrie calls "the work of wisdom"—a disciplined engagement with the inner darkness that prevents us from meeting outer challenges authentically.

His clinical background is crucial to understanding the book's distinctive perspective. During his therapeutic career, MacQuarrie observed repeatedly that his clients' greatest obstacle was not external circumstance but an internal resistance to the effort required for authentic living. Upon retirement, he encountered the ancient concept of acedia and recognized it as the precise vocabulary for what he had been witnessing—and later, as a citizen concerned about climate change, what he saw playing out at civilizational scale.

MacQuarrie defines acedia as "the emotional-cognitive processes by which human beings avoid their capabilities for correcting the challenges of living." This definition encompasses several dimensions:

• Laziness — an unwillingness to exert effort toward meaningful change

• Fearfulness — anxiety so overwhelming it produces paralysis rather than action

• Self-righteousness — the comfort of moral posturing without behavioral transformation

• Spiritual apathy — a loss of meaning and care that manifests as emotional-numbing or hyperactivity

These qualities, MacQuarrie argues, operate simultaneously at personal and cultural levels. What appears individually as procrastination, avoidance, or resignation becomes collectively catastrophic when a species capable of foresight fails to act on its own survival.

— Reviewed by Jonathan William