E&T Chapter 2

Question 1

Speak briefly about the implications of believing that we are separate from nature or a part of it

Answer 1

Separate from it: creates overuse, lack of environmental responsibility, but historically (Marx) profit and human well-being over that of nature, (Fennell) ‘myth of stewardship,’ (Hobbes) people who lived in a ‘state of nature’ were historically in fear, (Locke) historically people were basic and poor and in need of improvement.
Part of it: stewardship, hinduism (reincarnation and karma), buddhism (doesn’t even eat animals), (Plato) man has a duty to care for earthly things in the name of God, Daoist (model ourselves after heaven and earth), Islam (stewards of the gifts of Allah)

Question 2

What are three thematic histories of thought on nature?

Answer 2

1. a designed earth
2. the influence of the environment on society
3. the role of humans as modifiers of the natural world

Question 3

McKibben (2003) views on whether we are a part of nature or separate from it?

Answer 3

in the ‘modern mind,’ nature and human society are seen as separate things

Question 4

Soper (1995) views on whether we are a part of nature or separate from it?

Answer 4

‘a pirori’ separation between humanity and nature in any discussion on the environment, whether we accept or disagree with this position

Question 5

In a metaphysical sense, nature may thus be understood as … (This view has dominated western culture since the time of Descartes and the advent of Cartesian Dualism)

Answer 5

“the other”

Question 6

What did Marx state on the nature that preceded human history?

Answer 6

that it no longer existed anywhere, except perhaps in a few Australian coral reefs

Question 7

What did Giddens (1999) say on the habitats that are free from human traces?

Answer 7

it was the ‘end of nature’ - there are few, if any, habitats that have not been affected in some way by human intervention

Question 8

Nature may also be understood as being ‘read’ - explain

Answer 8

something learned, varying between different societies, sub-cultures and epochs

Question 9

Speak briefly about the link between spirituality and nature

Answer 9

indigenous communities had a spiritual attachment to nature.
Jewish paradigm: it was created by God, so it’s not our property
Christian: dichotomy of two main traditions - dominion and stewardship
Plato said man has a ‘duty’ to care for earthly things in the name of God

Question 10

What did the Mayans believe about nature?

Answer 10

that every human being has an animal counterpart and vice versa - to harm one is to harm the other

Question 11

What is the Maori’s relationship to nature?

Answer 11

Relationship to land through “whakapapa” identifying themselves through mountains and rivers, and ancestral dwellings within the tribal landscape.
“Kaitiaki” earth is the guardian of us - the chiefs make the decisions regarding the ‘seventh generation’

Question 12

What is the people of the Andes’ relationship to nature?

Answer 12

“allyu” defines a group of related beings living in a particular place that incorporated both the human and non-human world

Question 13

Fennell, 2006, coined the term “myth of stewardship,” explain…

Answer 13

there was evidence of large scale overkilling of large animals near sites of ancient tribes

Question 14

Speak on how the development of agricultural practices 10,000 years ago changed lifestyles?

Answer 14

enabled the development of organized religions, movement into cities from rural areas, lack of connectedness to nature overall

Question 15

What does the Jewish paradigm believe about nature?

Answer 15

the natural world has been created by God and not humans - therefore it is not our property to do as we wish

Question 16

Name the two main traditions of human-nature relationships in the Christian paradigm

Answer 16

1. dominion
2. stewardship

Question 17

Speak on the Christian paradigm of ‘dominion’

Answer 17

this is the belief that humans are made in the likeness of God and therefore should behave in a God-like way to the rest of the cosmos. Therefore, there are species inferior…

Question 18

What does Plato believe on religion and nature?

Answer 18

‘Man’ has a duty to care for earthly things in the name of God

Question 19

What did St. Francis of Assisi say on God and human’s relationship to nature?

Answer 19

God has ‘represented himself in birds and flowers, streams and boulders, sun and moon, the sweetness of the air’

Question 20

Speak on the Old Testament and nature/human relationships

Answer 20

promotes that of human dominion - Adam and Eve were told to subdue the earth (and non-animals), Noah’s ark drowned every animal to punish humans… God is placed ABOVE earth when we die after living a life on earth that is constructed for human trial (outside and above nature)… worshipping nature could become a Christian heresy

Question 21

Speak on Aristotle’s “the ladder of nature”

Answer 21

Lent order to nature’s apparent chaos - saw beings as superior to others, but also showed it as a ‘chain’ where all the links had to be in tact. Rediscovered by medieval scholars during the Renaissance period

Question 22

What did Thomas Aquinas say on the “Great Chain of Being?”

Answer 22

(that the whole of the material world exists for man)
“imperfect beings serve the needs of more noble beings, plants draw their nutrients from the earth, animals feed on plants, and these in turn serve man’s use. We conclude, then, that lifeless beings exist for living beings, plants for animals, and the latter for man”

Question 23

Speak about human control over nature “for the glory of God”

Answer 23

make nature perfect - ex. gardens, versailles in France, early civil engineering projects..

Question 24

What did philosopher Thomas Hobbes say on people who lived in a ‘state of nature’?

Answer 24

they could expect solidarity, poor and brutish lives, they’d be existing in a state of insecurity and in fear for their lives. This bound people together socially for mutual benefit

Question 25

What did philosopher John Locke say on people living in a “state of nature?”

Answer 25

they were basic, poor, and in need of improvement and advancement. If non-human environment was untouched and untransformed then it was valueless

Question 26

in the Chinese Taoist tradition, there is a tripartite relationship between… (3)

Answer 26

1. Tian (heaven)
2. Di (earth)
3. Reiv (man)
   (humans should model themselves after Tian and Di not to overvalue human concerns

Question 27

what is the Hinduism term “ahimsa”

Answer 27

non-injury

Question 28

Speak on Hinduism’s view of the interconnectedness of man and nature

Answer 28

ahimsa (non-injury) is associated with the doctrine of karma and rebirth. the soul can take birth in a different lifeforms like a fish, bird or other animal

Question 29

What do Buddhists say on the taking of life?

Answer 29

forbidden and vegetarian eating is propagated

Question 30

What do Muslims (Islamic faith) say about human’s relationship to nature?

Answer 30

humans are placed as the stewards of the gifts of Allah, for in the Quran there is no conceptual discontinuity between the realms of the divine, nature and humanity

Question 31

Name two major countries that cause extensive environmental degradation because of rapid economic growth

Answer 31

India and China

Question 32

Thinkpoint: how do you understand your relationship to nature, do you consider yourself a part of it or separate from it?

Answer 32

.

Question 33

Speak on: Polish astronomer Copernicus “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs” (1543)

Answer 33

he challenged that God created the earth so it must be the centre of the universe - he reverse: the solar system was heliocentric
Scientific revolution between that 1543 paper and 1687 (Isaac Newton’s ‘Mathematical Principles of Nature Philosophy) – 150 years! Established the principles of classical science and contradicted and challenged the understanding of nature determined by medieval cosmology

Question 34

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) speak on his views of science and nature’s laws

Answer 34

Used the vindictive method of science to unearth nature’s laws. He made observations of nature then drew out laws to govern their relationships. One of the most prominent is Darwin’s theory of evolution. o Bacon asserted the creed that scientific knowledge equals power over nature, transfer our relationship with nature from emotional to objective one

Question 35

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) - what did he seek to define? (cosmos)

Answer 35

sought to define universal principles to establish planetary motion

Question 36

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) - what language was the book of nature to be written in?

Answer 36

Mathematics.

Question 37

What did Rene Descartes (1596-1650) believe the universe consisted of?

Answer 37

Nothing more than matter formed by particles in motion - how are humans distinguishable from other entities of nature. Cognito Ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am) - our ability to think is what defines us from other animals and even our own bodies.

Question 38

What is Cartesian Dualism?

Answer 38

the separation of mind from matter, and the construction of an external independent world free of human existence. The value of nature became only that which is appropriated by man. Nature is now a machine - it can be controlled once science establishes the laws and principles of its workings. Now we’re losing spirituality.

Question 39

What’s an example of the effects of Cartesian Dualism?

Answer 39

we treat greenhouse gasses by finding better solutions for efficiency instead of fixing the root cause of the problem

Question 40

What are the two epochs of specifically significance for our relationship to the environment?

Answer 40

1. from 300 yrs ago when the scientific enquiry of nature was understood as a means to lending humans power over nature through understanding its laws, a process that would permit our mastery of nature to improve the human condition
2. Since 1960s - science proved that anthropocentric activity is having negative impacts on the workings of natural systems

Question 41

Think point: how much Cartesian dualism influence approaches to solving the negative effects tourism may have upon nature?

Answer 41

.

Question 42

Think point: how would you explain the terms ‘nature’ and ‘environment’? Reflecting on your own cultural background, to what extent are humans understood as being separate from or a part of the surrounding environment? Do you think science and advances in technology can solve all environmental problems?

Answer 42

.

Question 43

Describe the Romantic Movement

Answer 43

European literary, artistic and musical figured: Rousseau, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Casper David Friedrich, Chopin, Goethe, Walter Scott, Hugo, Liszt, and Brahms
o Emotional experiences through the power of nature in the ‘untamed’ or ‘wild’ landscapes
o Emphasized intuition, instinct and emotion – opposing science
o Untouched spaced unaltered by human endeavour were to have the greatest value since it held a deep spiritual significance

Question 44

Think point: do you think that for nature tourism to be authentic it must take place in evnironments where there is no human habitation? To experience a ‘true’ or ‘authentic’ nature is it necessary to travel away from our home environment? What are the characteristics that define a place as being natural?

Answer 44

.

Question 45

Debate the notion of an ‘untouched space’ - do they exist?

Answer 45

Touch on indigenous tribes once living on now national parks, the ‘myth of wilderness’ by Cronon.

Question 46

Speak on how the beach had a massive perception change during Romanticism

Answer 46

the beaches were already a place of leisure to the Baltic, North Sea and Mediterranean. Sea was used as health tourism, also used to be for the elite, now en mass. Escape from rapid urbanization. Rise of trains so living on the coast and working in the city was a nice escape.

Question 47

Why are people attracted to the beaches?

Answer 47

they can PLAY, socialize, get together and it’s warm, clean and attractive

Question 48

Think point: what association can be made between the characteristics of the coast that are rated most attractive and the influence of the romantic movement on constructions of beauty? What are the cultural and social functions of the beach? How many the beach environment connect people to nature? To what extent do you think these findings portray a Anglo- or western-centric social construction of the role of the beach?

Answer 48

.

Question 49

Speak on the rise of winter sports in the Alps and the tourism industry changes due to them

Answer 49

skiing was for the elite, then winter sports became more accessible and more popular (1920s railways). French also capitalized post WWII economic reconstruction - purpose-built ski resorts, or ‘ski factories’ made with cheap materials in the 1950s

Question 50

nature only becomes a resource when…

Answer 50

human value is placed on it

Question 51

Think point: D’Auvergene (1910) in a very early reference to the economic potential of tourism refers to the metaphor of ‘foreign gold beneath the snowdrifts’. How important ae the social constructions of nature for transforming environments into economic resources for tourism? Can you think of any other values nature may have besides an economic one? (on skiing and winter sport industry in the Alps)

Answer 51

.

Question 52

Think point: referring to the promotion of the Galapagos Isles and Antarctica in Box 2.3, how is the influence of the romantic movement evidenced in the social construction of these places?

Answer 52

They’re invoking things that are not scientific – emotions and adventure, a lust for discovery and to be part of the elite getting to see these wonderful parts of the earth, highlighting their beauty and uniqueness

Question 53

Speak on big game shooting in Europe in the 20th century

Answer 53

Biggest attraction of travel to British East Africa in the early 20th century was the activity of big game shooting. In Europe, this activity was kept for the aristocracy, many hunting voyages over shot and severely impacted the animal population in east Africa. A few decades after Europe arrived, the blaubok and quagga were eliminated, and men boasted about killing up to 200 elephants on safari

Question 54

Think point: think about images of environments that are attractive to you. What are the characteristics that make them appealing? What kinds of associations do you make with them? How are they different to the environment in which you normally live?