Conquering Nature Essay

Intro: The state of nature is an important and relevant philosophical idea that has been discussed and debated for a long time. The reason it is such a key topic in philosophy is it delves into the reasoning behind why man had to create political society. In order to properly understand the philosophy of the state of nature it is important to look at conflicting viewpoints about it in order to understand it with less bias. Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rosseau both have differing viewpoints regarding the state of nature. Hobbes feels that man’s natural state is cowardly, fearful, almost paranoid, so man created political society in order to protect himself. Rosseau, on the other hand, feels that man was much happier before political society was created. Their viewpoints differ regarding the state of nature, man’s phase after leasing their state of nature, and the basis and legitimacy of the social contract.

Prior to diving into the many new insights that can be comprehended while viewing history through a natural lense, it is important to define nature in this context. While man is technically a creation of nature, and therefore nature himself, he shall be excluded from this brief definition of what composes nature. Here, nature will be considered everything living or otherwise on this earth that is not a creation or product of humanity. All other creatures and parts of the environment are to be considered nature.

The idea of man versus something in the world is not foreign to most. A lot of the time a person can find another groaning or complaining about something going on or happening. When in true reality, there was nothing that person could do about it. The largest opponent that man has gone, and is going, against is nature itself.

A question I have for you is how you do see humans in relations to Nature? Nature is a vague term, and the way you emphasize people to embrace its simplicity implies humans were apart from Nature to begin with. This inherently

In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, man tries to tamper with nature. This is an enormous mistake, because his experiences prove that man should respect the omnipotent power of nature so man can be happy. Man should respect nature because if man goes beyond his limits, then nature lets man creates all types of consequences for himself which proves Shelley’s point to respect nature’s powers.When people look at nature, they are automatically healed just by its looks. This is a much more powerful force than anything man is capable of doing, thus nature is all powerful. Nature is constant, unlike man who is constantly changing, which shows that nature is always in control.

Similar to the ideas of Evernden and Cronon that are discussed above, Hinchliffe attempts to define, or redefine, the term “nature.” The author begins by identifying and defining three possible concepts of the term: nature as an independent state; nature as a dependent colony; and as a co-production. The first idea, nature as an independent state, means nature is something that is separate and in danger. The second, nature as a dependent colony, defines nature as an idea. The final concept, nature as a co-production, describes nature and society as intertwined.

In regards to our treatment of nature, you write, “Today, however, the population has grown to the point that nature itself is threatened but we have no ethical tools with which to protect and defend nature.” This problem has existed for quite some time, but has just not began to go widely noticed. A philosopher in his own right, Daniel Quinn, speaks of similar topics using his character, Ishmael, to do so. To best describe this scenario, Ishmael had a poster which read, “With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?” this quote in itself hold little meaning until you take the deeper meaning by using gorilla as nature; Quinn speaks throughout the book of how earth was not created for man, man is just one more short portion of earth’s history and will be seen as such when times change. The meaning of this quote then becomes, will earth have any hope if man dies? This interpretation requires the assumption that man controls nature, he takes care of it, rather than being a part of it and respecting it. At the conclusion of the book, Quinn shows the other side of the poster which held the quote and it reads, “with gorilla gone, will there be hope for man?” Again, once realizing gorilla is a euphemism for nature, we realize nature what Quinn has been preaching the entire book, man does not control nature, nature was not created for man, but man is slowly killing it. On your statement, saying the population is too great for nature to sustain everyone, I completely agree. Too

It appears that humanity has been detrimental to its host for quite some time now, particularly in the last hundred years or so. The subjugation of fellow man and earth stems from a central theme; the idea that humanity seeks to conquer, categorize, and control whatever is in their sights. There are exceptions, of course. This idea does not apply to all people, but can be seen in instances such as the aforementioned subjugation and slaughter of the Jews during World War Two, in the form of the Holocaust, and the continued destruction of the natural world for profit. “Nature” also touches upon a similar idea, posed by theorists Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno,

The Abolition of Man by C. S Lewis covers the position of the human being giving a philosophical view of how they take various positions when understanding the nature around them. By using many examples from the nature and the way the human being and nature work together, the writer makes a point that we cannot conquer nature without being conquered by it. He suggests that everything we say or feel is basically a reflection of our own which we apply to the things we see. A very famous example is used in the writing where it says when humans say something about a waterfall such as that it’s beautiful, they are actually not describing the waterfall but what they feel about it inside of them.

While the typical alliance between the earth and mankind has historically benefitted both sides, in some cases, one party steps up and over the other. Sometimes, it is the humans who take over, and in other cases, nature grabs the wheel. In Ted Kooser’s “So This Is Nebraska”, nature undertakes that commanding role, seemingly dominating over its inhabitants. In his poem, Kooser reveals a controlling relationship between nature and humans, suggesting that natural forces override and take precedence over personal inhibition.

E. O. Wilson, argues that the organisms which compose nature “run the world precisely as we would wish it to be run, because humanity evolved within living communities and our bodily functions are finely adjusted to the idiosyncratic environment already create.” This sentence highlights the sophistic nature of exemptionalism, which purports that we are above nature and thus not bound by its laws. I will further address the fallacies of this view later in this eassy. Wilson goes on to argue that nature is the key to our past, and that our past is the our key to self understanding. Therefore, if we destroy nature we not only lose vast amounts of untapped

Nor do humans want to exhibit warlike aggression (53). In the state of nature the individual has natural freedom and will not subject to any other individual. Before the development of language and society, “it is impossible to imagine why, in that primitive state, one man would have a greater need for another man than a monkey, or wolf has for another of its respective species” (51).

Man has accomplished many things such as walking the Moon,climbing mountains, and creating medicine to stop diseases but are we more powerful than nature? In the novel Tangerine,the main character,Paul, and the residents of Tangerine, face many obstacles such as a sinkhole, freeze, muck fires, disappearing koi, and mosquitos. Paul’s mother Mrs.Fisher frequently has homeowner association meeting to solve these problems, but more arose. In the novel Tangerine, Edward Bloor uses the motif of nature to show that, although mankind believes that they are powerful, nature is stronger.

In Clifford Geertz’s article, Two Types of Ecosystems, he suggests that the uneven distribution of the Indonesian population is in direct correlation with the different methods of agriculture used by those in the densely populated area and those in the less populated area. Geertz explores the distinct characteristics of two methods of cultivation in Indonesia, swidden and sawah agriculture. Swidden agriculture, as described by Geertz, is when the forest is burned and cleared so new crops can be sowed. The nutrients from the burned plants are used as a natural fertilizer to insure growth of its variety of crops. Swidden agriculture works in a cycle, once the nutrients in the soil are depleted, the

The concept of Anthropocentrism is deep rooted in the very nature of human beings and can be seen even in the primitive ages when the humans are believed to have lived in unison with nature. Even in that period their harmonious relationship with the non-human natural world existed as a sort of necessity for their survival and not out of love for nature. The idea of anthropocentrism in which man occupies the central position and is given the primary importance when compared to all the other living and non-living organisms in nature, gives him a right to tame and subdue nature. William