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Chapter 15
 Overall
the humanities have been
positive toward nature, but some have
been indifferent
 Force
that ultimately rules the universe
• Called Nature by the west
• Called Brahman in India
• Called Tao in China
• Called Dharma to Buddhists
 Romanticism
is a
movement in art,
literature, music and
philosophy
 Equate the words
“natural” and “free”
 Nature and humanity
are part of the same
whole
ROMAN POET- LUCRETIUS




“On the Nature of Things”
GENESIS

Attributed the beginning of
the natural world to a
mighty collision of atoms.
Predicts the world will end
in a violent explosion
Nature is awesome,
powerful and dangerous

Bible passage says that
humans “…fill this earth
and subdue it. Rule over the
fish of the sea and the birds
of the air and over every
living creature…”
Some say this means we are
responsible for its care,
others feel we may do with
it as we please
 Rebellious
young men studying for the
priesthood objected to the strict training
 Urged
fellow student to discover the
natural world
 Roots
of great poetic theme- the
identification of unspoiled Nature with
youth and joy and all good things
 Cities
were filthy,
(plague), filled with
poverty
 used
humanities to
escape to pristine
nature
 Midsummer’s
Night
Dream, The Tempest
 Sir William
Temple, believed in “deism”
(Nature is like a clock created by God or
a “clock maker”, left it to run unchanged
forever and saw no need to intervene)
 Believed
that as the “clock” slowed down
nature would wither and die and all life
would perish
 Believed
not only Nature, but humanity
itself was decaying (hedonism)
 Later, artists
and writers perceived that
options existed, Nature came to mean the
out-of-doors with
fresh, clean air, part
of the world not
destroyed by factories
 Socrates
believed that being alone in
lifeless nature could never take the place
of stimulating conversation with his
companions.
 Cities
are where culture, sophistication,
arts and philosophy are found
 American
mythology is urban.
“Trailblazers” were brave pioneers who
tamed the wilderness
 Killed the “uncivilized savages”
 Felt it was their
obligation to spread
their civilization
 Most
famous
American
environmentalist of
19th century
 Naturalist-someone
who chooses to live
far from society in a
natural environment
 Environmentalism
stemmed from a lock
of need to enjoy companionship and
conversation in urban surroundings
 Nature
is not a universal cause, it is the
road to personal happiness
 Let
those who choose to work in crowded,
dirty cities continue to do so
 “The World
is Too
Much with Us”
 Focused
on “getting
and spending”
 Believed nature was
capable healing itself
and those who leave
urban society
 Nature
can be
portrayed as both
terrifying and
majestically beautiful
 Moby Dick- the whale
(God/Nature) is not
benevolent or caring,
is unreasonably
powerful
 Warns
against
meddling with nature
 Dr. Frankenstein
creates a creature
that will live forever
and be “perfect”
 Nature
should be
admired not analyzed
or messed with
 Long
tradition of a deeply spiritual
relationship with nature
 Their gods watch over various aspects:
rivers, hunting, cycle of life and death
 Rituals with songs and dances to intensify
these relationships
 Written
as an indictment of the arrogance
of dominant culture
 Narrator is sent to Africa to find Kurtz
(company’s chief trader)
 Kurtz has become “savage”, kills anyone
who opposes him , stole a native woman
from her husband
 Ends with narrator lying to Kurtz’s wife,
claiming his last words were of her
 1980’s
scientists began warning about
climate change.
• Enhanced by deforestation
• Carbon emissions
 An
Inconvenient Truth- won acclaim and
awards for presenting Climate Change
• Leads to higher sea levels
• Species would vanish
• Reduced food supply and drinkable water
 If
you ask people on the street whether
we should worry about the environment
they say yes, but know pollution is a
necessary part of modern life.
 Should
we live like Conrad’s narrator,
content with a lie? Or can we hope that
scientists are right that global warming is
a natural cycle and poses no danger?