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Reflecting on Nature: Plumwood and Naess

Herein lies a overview of Unit 1 with emphasis on the selections from Plumwood and Naess

BrianGlenney
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Reflecting on Nature: Plumwood and Naess

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  1. Images of Nature Section 1: Reflecting on Nature

  2. Nature as opposition to humanity • Lynn White’s interpretation of modern Christianity. • Aristotle

  3. Humanity as part of nature. • Lynn White’s revolution for modern Christianity. • St. Francis of Assisi. • Plumwood • Carson • Thoreau • Leopold

  4. Humanity as dominant over nature to care for nature for humanity’s benefit. • DeWitt • Locke • Mill • [Botkin*] *Due to humanity already using technology to pollute nature.

  5. Humanity as wholly integrated with nature with full connectedness • Shiva • Naess (deep ecology)

  6. Naess: Deep Ecology • The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes. • Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to these values. • Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital human needs. • The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. • Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening. • Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present. • The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (not standard of length of life).

  7. Objection from Botkin • Deep ecology undermines the unique contribution humanity has made to the environment via technology. We must not reduce technology, but increase its prevalence. • Zizek Agrees! (2:50-4:30)

  8. Hints of the problem in Plumwood • …and Mick Fanning

  9. Is humanity just a part of nature? • We must choose a lens by which we view all things in our ethical view: human and non-human. • Which lens is justified? • Human? • Sentience? • Flourishing? • Creation? • Which lens is possible for humans?

  10. Summary: Anthrocentrism vs. Ecocentrism • Anthrocentrism: Humanity is privileged in its view of all other living things. • Ecocentrism: Humanity is NOT privileged in its view of all other living things. “Life” is privileged.

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