PILGRIMAGE TO HERESY   

Being and Paradox:

A New Look at Anthropomorphism

IF YOU LOVE YOUR PLANET, PLEASE READ  THIS BOOK...

MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS: PROTAGORAS. But is that necessarily true? We are a part of nature. Yet we all too often consider ourselves apart from nature; thus we put at arms length a problem in which we forget to include ourselves. We are caught up in this paradox. If we are to extricate ourselves from it we must redefine our centrality by appealing to our sense of kinship. We cannot do this within our Judeo-Christian tradition: it is too tainted, too staid. Too “fixed”. Yet outside of this tradition, in the words of the Greek philosophers, the Taoists, the Buddhists, the early conservationists, and most surprisingly but most convincingly the discoveries of the quantum physicists, we may begin to find a home in which we and nature are given equivalent status in our own unique ways of contribution to this planet, our home.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.

When we see land as a community to which we belong,

we may begin to use it with love and respect.

Aldo Leopold

* * * * *

 The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

 Marcel Proust

* * * * *

 This we know.

 The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.

 This we know.

All things are connected like the blood

 which unites one family.

 All things are connected.

 Chief Seattle

* * * * *

 Table of Contents

Part 1

The Impasse

Part 2

Aldo Leopold and the Biotic Community

Part 3

Buddhism and the Unity of Opposites

Part 4

“Everything Old is New Again”:  Heraclitus and Particle Physics

Part 5:

“Mountains Are No Longer Mountains”

Part 6:

The Round Dance:  Heidegger and the Fourfold

Part 7:

Cherish the Life…”

Part 8

The Upshot:  Leopold and Authenticity

Conclusion

Anthropocentrism Revisited

The Spirit of the Valley: A short story about concernful dealings

Postscript

“Passenger Pigeons” by Robinson Jeffers

Bibliography

For Further Thought



Excerpt from Being and Paradox:

Being and Paradox is based upon my Master’s thesis in Philosophy which I researched and wrote now more than twenty years ago. I re-read it recently and decided that with a little loosening up on academic language and a little updating it was as fresh as the day I wrote it and possibly even more relevant. I present it here not as a completed idea but as a work which—given its understanding of “becoming” as a world view which gives us at least some peace here—invites comment.

 In the intervening years I have seen many steps forward towards a growing understanding and sense of “responsibility” towards nature. I have also seen many sad steps back. I have seen us move towards a disposable society even greater than that of the late 80’s. We may take our own shopping bags to the supermarket, but we consume an inordinate number of bottles of water and perhaps would not want to consider the magnification of our own consumption in global numbers. Packaging (just think of those printer cartridges for a start, vegetables in styrofoam and plastic) has multiplied when we should be insisting on far less. We attempt to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle but we aren’t really very good at it, especially if it isn’t convenient. And this is perhaps our only personal contribution to the problem. On an industrial (and nuclear) scale it is far beyond our comprehension. Our efforts really are puny.

Clearly, we need an ethical theory which is palatable, reasonable, cost-effective and efficient for all of us. But as of the original date of writing none existed. Neither does one now. It is my expressed hope here to introduce you to some ideas which—though they may have little to do with “rights” of nature, may make you think about your own duties in terms of care and concern.  Perhaps one exists not so much in terms of the guilt engendered by our failure to consider the enjoyment of future and distant generations, but the security of our own very “human” nature. I hope to persuade you that this is so.

ALSO INCLUDES THE SHORT STORY "The Spirit of the Valley"

The assembled were all contest winners.  It had been a popular show:  “Environmental Watch”.  Henry and his wife, the TV producer Jennifer Chambers, had used the show to bring many home-grown issues into the public eye, and it had been very successful.  The contestants were all in some way involved with the land and development, peace groups, international relations, and a few hippie wannabe types, several professionals including two university professors on sabbatical, an electrician, a carpenter, a paediatrician, and a retired army officer who claimed that he loved “the great outdoors”. And one ex-con who said that after prison he could no longer be surrounded by people and wanted another chance.  He had paid his debt, he said, but no-one trusted him anymore.

 “I am not the same man I was,” he told the judges with the greatest of conviction.

 All contestants were tested on their knowledge of world issues and all spoke with sincerity; seemingly too much sincerity on occasion.  These were weeded out early.

 “Fanatics and simplicity don’t go together,” Henry Mortimer was overheard to say.

 Finally, thirty were selected, men and women, to participate in a year long experiment:  Self-sufficiency in the wild.  The Prize: five hundred thousand dollars to be shared equally by the winning group and the right to stay in the valley in perpetuity.  The five hundred thousand had been offered by his father-in-law after Henry had made an attempt to secure it from his father’s foundation and had been roundly turned down.

“Prove yourself first,” he was told by the trustees; and Henry knew this had come from his father’s directive.

Today assembled with Henry were the chosen, surrounded by television cameras and reporters.

 “There are two camps already set up for you at opposite ends of the valley,” Henry said.  “Very basic shelters, but sufficient to get you started.  You have everything you need here for your survival.  What you do not find in the valley you may barter for.  Each group has been given a limited number of necessities—seeds and so on—but in order to grow a variety you will have to barter with each other.  Is that clear?

 “What if we don’t need everything we grow?” asked a tall, grey bearded man: the doctor who had written many books. 

 “Then you will need to make a decision, a collective decision; the rest is up to you.  You will not be completely isolated.  There are villages quite close to each encampment—well within walking distance in fact.  You will be visited each month and your progress will be tracked.  You will need to keep detailed notes to support your work.  I suggest each of you keep a personal diary.  Naturally, if any real emergency arises you may contact us.  There is a cell phone in each camp which may be used in emergency only.  Failure to comply with this will mean instant elimination for the person who breaks the rule.  You will have to decide between you who will have the custody of it.  We will be checking the phones periodically for signs of outward calls.  Do you all agree? Now, here is the contract agreement.”

 After all had signed and the media had begun to move away, the major quietly asked Henry:

 “How will you choose which group is which?”

“That’s easy,” said Henry, and began to count the group in general and seemingly randomly.

 “Now, odd numbers, please stay where you are.  Even numbers, please follow me.  Jennifer?” he motioned to his partner, “Please take the even group to the downstream camp.”

 The latter group along with the Major, the economist, and the ex-prisoner grabbed their scanty possessions and proceeded to follow on.

 Right then, odd group, follow me.”