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History and development of environmental ethics
Theories about ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Theories about ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
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Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness is an autobiographical narrative written by naturalist Edward Abbey. Abbey composed the account based on his personal experiences as an employee for the United States Park Service at Arches National Monument in Utah. Abbey’s anecdotal account is nonlinearly comprised of occupational experiences and renditions of the region’s folklore. These illustrations analogous because they exhibit related themes and trends associated with the author’s experiences and beliefs.
One of the predominate themes present in Desert Solitaire is the conflict between civilization and the wilderness. Abbey introduces this motif at the beginning of his memoir at personal level. On first day of his employment with United States Park Service Abbey describes the first pair arches that he encounter. The sight of massive fifty foot boulders impresses him and he makes a conceptual comparison with the human altered monuments on Easter Island. This comparison troubles Abbey because civilization has tainted his ability to objectively view nature outside of “humanly ascribed qualities (Abbey, 1968, p. 6).” Abbey struggle to eliminate this anthropocentric premonitions continues when he encounters a pair of gopher snakes mating. Abbey wishes to observe closer but is reluctant because he was “stung by a fear too ancient and power full to overcome (Abbey, 1968, p. 21).”
This anthropocentric theme continues throughout his narrative but is personified on a societal level. This matter is first introduced in the chapter “Polemic: Industrial Tourism and The National Parks.” In this chapter Abbey notes the expansionist nature of the industrial economy and how it is affecting the national parks. Abbey critiques arguments for uni...
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...sk was lured to Utah seeking to make a fortune mining uranium. Husk brought his family with him and liquidated his assets. Husk was first approached by a local pilot Charles “Chuck” Graham to purchase a forty percent share of the Hot Rock Mountain Development Company (Abbey, 1968, p. 80). Husk was delighted to initiate the partnership and enlisted his sun Billy Joe to assist him during the operation. For months Husk and Billy Joe labored, while Graham coveted Husk’s wife and share of the venture. The narrative tragically concluded in the deaths of Graham, Husk, and Billy Joe as a result of greed. These social changes not only negatively affected the landscape but affected the morality of the regions inhabitants.
Throughout Abbey’s account of his time in Arches National Monument he illustrates the beauty and significance of preserving the American southwest.
From the prologue through chapter one in “Wilderness and the American Mind”, the author emphasizes the affect wilderness had on the Europeans during the colonization of America. In today’s society, we are familiar with the concept of wilderness but few of us have experienced the feeling of being encapsulated in the unfamiliar territory. Today we long for wilderness, crave it even. We use it as an outlet to escape the pace of life. However, we have a sense of safety that the Europeans did not. We are not isolated in the unfamiliar, help is usually a phone call away. Though we now view the wilderness as an oasis because we enter at our own terms, in the early colonial and national periods, the wilderness was an unknown environment that was viewed as evil and dangerous.
Turner fails to realize the extent to which Native Americans existed in the ‘Wilderness’ of the Americas before the frontier began to advance. Turner’s thesis relies on the idea that “easterners … in moving to the wild unsettled lands of the frontier, shed the trappings of civilization … and by reinfused themselves with a vigor, an independence, and a creativity that the source of American democracy and national character.” (Cronon) While this idea seems like a satisfying theory of why Americans are unique, it relies on the notion that the Frontier was “an area of free land,” which is not the case, undermining the the...
In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, he uses several literary devices to keep the reader interested. During Rainsfords journey to and through the island of General Zaroff he partakes in an adventurous journey filled with mystery, suspense, and dilemma. These devices are used to keep the reader interested throughout the story.
Often, individuals reflect upon their lives, remembering all of the accomplishments, stories and struggles; Roland Johnson takes the opportunity to reflect on his life in his Autobiography Roland Johnson’s Lost in a Desert World. In addition to his reflection, Johnson shares his life experiences, which no one is compelled to experience again, thanks to his efforts. Also, an abundance of lessons are present in Johnson’s book, which are applicable to daily life, additionally advocating for others with disabilities. With the perspective of a future educator an abundance of knowledge applicable in several ways after gaining a better understanding through the book as well.
Desert Solitaire aims to draw attention to the activities of a man voluntarily isolated in nature. It seeks to identify the strife that Abbey faces with modern day human’s treatment of his nature. As such, the argument that Abbey poses in one his earlier chapters Rocks is, that the Modern Day man is destructive and cannot be trusted to preserve nature as is.
Apart from the novel's thematic development, McCarthy's setting and his detailed description of the ornate beauty of the desert southwest is deserving of praise. A lyrical quality and refined beauty are apparent in the novel's description. McCarthy's extended accounts of the pristine beauty of the desert can be seen as an artistic and visually appealing piece work apart from the plot of the novel. Such memorable accounts seem to be a lone highlight in a shockingly disturbing book (Moran 37).
Sylva, Seville A. A Thesis-Foreigners in the California Gold Rush. California: University of Southern California. 1932.
Like most Disney material, nature themes were incorporated into the earliest parks, including Adventureland, Frontierland, Nature’s Wonderland, and the newest, Animal Kingdom. Disney carefully edited these “natural” settings that show the less wild side of the wilderness. However, how does the tourist comprehend the illusions? How are the plants and animals adapting to reflect the illusion, and how are they accented by the interactions with both human nature and Disney’s technological nature? These questions and more will be answered within the following sections: Definitions, Technological Nature, Kilamanjaro Safari, and The Final Answer.
Born in Home, Pennsylvania in 1927, Abbey worked as a forest ranger and fire look-out for the National Forest Service after graduating from the University of New Mexico. An author of numerous essays and novels, he died in 1989 leaving behind a legacy of popular environmental literature. His credibility as a forest ranger, fire look- out, and graduate of the University of New Mexico lend credibility to his knowledge of America’s wilderness and deserts. Readers develop the sense that Abbey has invested both time and emotion in the vast deserts of America.
Today, having power is what everybody in this country relies on day to day and couldn't function without it. Every year more and more dams are being built and more man made reservoirs are being created to provide this electricity needed. These dams are very important in my eyes but Edward Abbey carries a different opinion in his writing "The Damnation of a Canyon."
A Sand County Almanac is a non-fictional anthology, a collection of short stories, with some fictional aspects, written by Aldo Leopold. The underlying theme that Leopold uses to connect about 50 short stories is that of nature, nature’s importance, and lack of appreciation, all of which tie into the main topic of the book, conservation of the wilderness. The book is organized into four different sections. The first section Leopold’s account of a year on his secluded farm titled “A Sand County Almanac”, the second section is titled “The Quality of Landscape” and is comprised of short stories that discuss the land in various areas, section three is Leopold’s appeal for life in the country and the wilderness titled “A Taste for Country”, and
I was reading a novel and travelling to places I have never been. From the way he wrote people could see the beauty of nature and also his passion as an advocate for wilderness. Many call him as “Father of National Parks.” He strongly believed that lands should be protected and never turn into grazing pastures.as he mentioned, “The disappearance of the forests in the first place, it is claimed may be traced in most cases directly to mountain pasturage” ...
This mid to late-19th century account of an early Victorian (English) public park illustrates the change of function and transformation of the Victorian public park from its original role as an upper-middle class observatory of Nature to its redefinition as this class' s social observatory of the lower classes. Between the years of 1840 and 1860, the public park's role in the eyes of England' s upper crust changed drastically due to the economic and political structure of Victorian England during this time and J.M. Milton's quote reflects this reality.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is a collection of autobiographical excerpts depicting Abbey's experiences as a park ranger of Arches National Monument in 1956 and 1957. In the chapter, Water, Abbey discusses how the ecosystem and habitats adapt to the arid and barren weather of the Southwest over time. In addition, he explains that the streams, riverbeds and other means of water end up finding their own ways to support their ecosystem's struggling animal and plant life. Abbey also explores different and unusual means of water such as flash floods and quicksand. Furthermore, Abbey contrasts how the environment adapts naturally to very low water conditions with how human demands to expand outside water sources to attract more civilians and
This chapter explores the idea of landscape in an anthropological construct. Hirsch aims to move away from the western ideals of understanding of landscape, and deconstruct it in an attempt to understand the local interoperation of landscape to prove it is part of a cultural process. Landscape has been used as a “standard framing device” (p1) by those looking from the outside in across anthropological history. Hirsch is looking to explore the landscape through the cultural understandings of the local people. (p1-5)