Year of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Philosophy
Other Degree Name/Area of Focus
Environmental Philosophy
Department or School/College
Philosophy
Committee Chair
Dr. Christopher Preston
Commitee Members
Dr. David Sherman, Dr. Andrew Larson
Keywords
Nature, dialectic, dualism, monism, environment, ethics
Subject Categories
Ethics and Political Philosophy | Metaphysics | Other Philosophy | Philosophy
Abstract
The protection of nature has been a central aim of environmentalism for well over a century. However, the concept of nature has been subjected to abundant critiques in recent literature, threatening the conceptual tenability of this goal. In this paper, I discuss why I find the concept of nature too valuable to dismiss and offer an account of nature that I believe remedies existent critiques. In Chapter 1, I recount arguments for the protection of nature and illustrate their dualistic underpinnings. In Chapter 2, I discuss issues with dualistic accounts of nature and demonstrate why Steven Vogel’s monistic alternative is unsatisfactory. In Chapter 3, I propose a dialectical account of nature and explore what an environmental ethic might look like within this framework.
Recommended Citation
Grimm, Georgia Rae, "Toward a Dialectical Account of Nature" (2022). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12029.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12029
© Copyright 2022 Georgia Rae Grimm