Leopold In "American Earth," Leopold Aldo refers to the "epidemic of ditch digging and land booming" that represents the "conqueror role" that humanity has played for most of its existence (269). The conqueror role presumes that the human species is entitled to use the earth in any way possible to achieve human ends. It is a mentality that leads to wanton destruction and misuse of land. Natural resources are depleted. Aldo also claims that the "conqueror role" precludes human beings from envisioning the aesthetic or practical functions of wilderness. Wetlands and marshes are particularly vulnerable, for as Aldo points out, even some environmentalists do not recognize their core value in the ecosystem. I agree fully with Leopold's assessment. For one, I appreciate the author's affection for marshland birds and other flora and fauna. Second, I have also witnessed the fact that the earth is filled with "dustbowls" and "rivers washing the future into the sea," (276). Finally, I agree with Aldo that there needs to be an ethic of conservation if human beings are to return to sanity. The "ethical sequence" forms the crux of Aldo's argument in "American Earth." Since Aldo wrote "American Earth," a land ethic has emerged in the consciousness of European culture and North American culture, to a degree. However, I still concur with Aldo's assessment, "there is as yet no ethic dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it," (277). So long as land...
Aldo is correct to frame the conqueror relationship using the analogy of Odysseus and the slave girls, who he can kill because they are legal property. Such a situation would be unheard of in North America today, but with land, problems still remain. The land-relation is "still strictly economic," which is why there needs to be parks and reserves set aside (277).
Instead of valuing some parts of nature over others, we should cultivate a universal regard for all parts of nature, down to the lowliest tree in our back yard. Aldo Leopold would agree. His "land ethic" calls for a new philosophy that includes a moral respect for the land. Like Cronon, Leopold advocates an "ecological conscience," that includes a "conviction of individual responsibility," (435). Cronon realizes that humility and
Sangster, DeLillo, Nature and God What is the opposite of Nature? There are a number of different answers we could give in playing the game of finding an antonym. We are accustomed to speaking of "nature vs. nurture," but "nature" here is a shorthand for the phrase "human nature." In referring to Nature in its environmental sense, we are more likely to speak of "nature vs. culture" or "nature vs. art"
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