“Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.” (Chief Seattle)
As this class draws to a close, I wonder if we are any closer to coming to a conclusion about nature and the environment. How does our view of nature manifest itself in our lifestyles? Do we have the authority to utilize everything around us, or are we suppose to care for it? Is it right to eliminate a certain level of risk from our lives, due to technological changes and “control” of nature? Is our view of respecting nature, our ethics toward nature, actually advantageous to the restoration of the natural world?
Coming out of these discussions, I feel I have a lot of questions that are still unanswered. However, I think that it has sparked the need for discussion and has made me realize what I view as ethical in regards to land management, the resources around me and those that follow in my footsteps. I do believe we are responsible for the world in which we live. I do believe we should be stewards of the land – using it for our benefit but also caring for it. I believe there is a balance and an underlying thing (hupokeimenon) that is necessary for our existence. I still have questions about technology, about morality issues regarding the lobster, about how Aristotle viewed life, about whether or not our discussions have moved me any closer to obtaining a definitive definition of nature; however, I do feel that I did gain knowledge about other peoples’ views on nature. Though this philosophy class may come to a close, we will still be able to ponder these things. I do know this - our class may never settle on a definitive stance regarding certain issues. So I leave you to ponder the words of Chief Seattle from many years ago - “Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth.”
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I am glad that we are thinking about conclusions for the class and how the readings and discussions we have had throughout the semester influenced a conclusion. I don’t know that a conclusion will be made, but I do feel everyone has a much better understanding of the environment and has a strengthen opinion on important issues that we face everyday and will face in the future.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way with not experiencing many "endings" now that this class is about completed. This was my first taste of any philosophy class, and it was so different than any other class for me. I am used to hard sciences, where there is a right or wrong answer. It seems like a focus of philosophy is to get our minds thinking, but not to necessarily draw any hard conclusions. Maybe a conclusion in philosophy is to become clear with certain people's view points. Either way, I feel I have learned much about what others believe, which is invaluable in itself. I like your ending quote, we belong to the earth. It is a good to see ourselves fit here in nature and the environment.
ReplyDeleteI like and agree with this post. I'm kind of disappointed that we have made and conclusions but i guess that is to be expected. This was also my first philosophy class and i feel that my eyes are now opened to see more than one point of view. I think that everyone should remember the impacts humans have had on nature and keep the issues we have talked about in mind.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your general sentiment. While we may not be able to agree upon definitive points, the fact that we as a class and as a society are even debating our environmental philosophy speaks volumes about how important environmental issues have become. Having learned about the history of environmental philosophy, it seems to me that ever since the enlightenment, we've been in a sort of dark age of environmental thought. The prevailing wisdom that the environment was there for us to use and abuse remained unchallenged for centuries, and its only been in the last 30 years or so that we've started to question that. I find it interesting that cultures like the Native Americans had views about treatment of animals and a land ethic thousands of years before western culture could even conceptualize those views.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your ending quote, we do belong to the earth and the earth will keep spinning with or without us. Although there are many things to be proud of and many times of tragedy which have been overcome in western society, I still feel there is a certain cockiness, a certain arrogance about it. I feel that other cultures and countries show way more respect to our planet than we do.
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