Infinite Nature - Hardcover

Hull, R. Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226359441 ISBN 13: 9780226359441

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2006

Synopsis

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who categorically opposes protecting the environment, yet most people would agree that the environmentalist movement has been ineffectual and even misguided. Some argue that its agenda is misplaced, oppressive, and misanthropic—a precursor to intrusive government, regulatory bungles, and economic stagnation. Others point out that its alarmist rhetoric and preservationist solutions are outdated and insufficient to the task of galvanizing support for true reform. 

In this impassioned and judicious work, R. Bruce Hull argues that environmentalism will never achieve its goals unless it sheds its fundamentalist logic. The movement is too bound up in polarizing ideologies that pit humans against nature, conservation against development, and government regulation against economic growth. Only when we acknowledge the infinite perspectives on how people should relate to nature will we forge solutions that are respectful to both humanity and the environment.

Infinite Nature explores some of these myriad perspectives, from the scientific understandings proffered by anthropology, evolution, and ecology, to the promise of environmental responsibility offered by technology and economics, to the designs of nature envisioned in philosophy, law, and religion. Along the way, Hull maintains that the idea of nature is social: in order to reach the common ground where sustainable and thriving communities are possible, we must accept that many natures can and do exist.

Incisive, heartfelt, and brimming with practical solutions, Infinite Nature brings a much-needed and refreshing voice to the table of environmental reform.

About this title

About the Author

R. Bruce Hull is a senior fellow at the Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability at Virginia Tech. He is coeditor of Restoring Nature: Perspectives from the Social Sciences and Humanities.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In his dense, intensely thought-provoking book, professor of natural resources Hull proposes a fair, rational dialogue between resource preservationists and resource consumers. He wants readers to consider the role of nature in their lives beyond simple resource exploitation and, through this, plot a strategy for integrating economic development with conservation and social justice in ways that are both politically and economically feasible. He also wants readers to think about how we define nature; Hull says there are many natures and we must define what we mean when we discuss them. Thus, in successive chapters, he covers topics such as American colonialism and industrialization, the role nature plays in human health, the social injustice of exporting pollution, the conflicts between religious perceptions of the natural order and ecological reality, the arguments on the natural/unnatural state of humanity, the aesthetic value of the natural world, and the historical development of natural philosophy. Hull cites often the philosophy of Aldo Leopold, actively incorporating the principle that a healthy humanity requires a healthy nature. A handbook for understanding natural resource conflicts and finding solutions for both inherited problems and the ones we are currently creating, Hull's work is comprehensive, informative, and richly rewarding.
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Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0226359441
• ISBN 13: 9780226359441
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 232