ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: for the END IS a LIMIT
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: FOR THE END IS A LIMIT: THE QUESTION CONCERNING THE ENVIRONMENT Ozguc Orhan, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation Directed By: Professor Charles E. Butterworth Department of Government and Politics Professor Ken Conca Department of Government and Politics This dissertation argues that Aristotle’s philosophy of praxis (i.e., ethics and politics) can contribute to our understanding of the contemporary question concerning the environment. Thinking seriously about the environment today calls for resisting the temptation to jump to conclusions about Aristotle’s irrelevance to the environment on historicist grounds of incommensurability or the fact that Aristotle did not write specifically on environmental issues as we know them. It is true that environmental problems are basically twentieth-century phenomena, but the larger normative discourses in which the terms “environmental” and “ecological” and their cognates are situated should be approached philosophically, namely, as cross-cultural and trans-historical phenomena that touch human experience at a deeper level. The philosophical perspective exploring the discursive meaning behind contemporary environmental praxis can reveal to us that certain aspects of Aristotle’s thought are relevant, or can be adapted, to the ends of environmentalists concerned with developmental problems. I argue that Aristotle’s views are already accepted and adopted in political theory and the praxis of the environment in many respects. In the first half of the dissertation, I explore the common ground between contemporary theorizing on the ethical and political aspects of environmental issues and Aristotelian ethics and politics. The second half of the dissertation locates the contemporary relevance of Aristotle in the recently emerging studies of “environmental virtue ethics” as well as “environmental citizenship” and “conservative environmentalism.” FOR THE END IS A LIMIT: THE QUESTION CONCERNING THE ENVIRONMENT By Ozguc Orhan Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2007 Advisory Committee: Professor Charles E. Butterworth, Co-Chair Professor Ken Conca, Co-Chair Professor Ronald Terchek Professor Jillian Schwedler Professor Lillian Doherty © Copyright by Ozguc Orhan 2007 Dedication To my parents, Leman and Bedrettin Orhan, and to my sister and brother, Evrim and Devrim, who have encouraged me to pursue learning first and foremost. ii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have seen the light of day without the constant support, encouragement, and guidance of my co-chairs Charles Butterworth and Ken Conca. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to both of them. Professor Butterworth has relentlessly provided all the possible support that a graduate student could wish for. I was inspired to choose the topic of my dissertation after taking his class on the ancients. Professor Conca has been very understanding, patient, helpful, and supportive before, during, and after the writing process. He has contributed much to my learning and growth as a scholar. I owe special thanks to Jillian Schwedler. She graciously offered help and agreed to join my committee without hesitation despite the short notice. I am grateful to Professors Ronald Terchek, Miranda Schreurs, and Lillian Doherty for reading, discussing, and giving me valuable and timely feedback on my dissertation chapters. I also thank my friends Waseem El-Rayes, Fenghsi Wu, Rima Pavalko, and Kerem Ozan Kalkan for providing me with intellectual and emotional support. I also appreciate all kinds of administrative help I have received over the years from Ann Marie Clark and Cissy Abu Rumman. Finally, I would like to thank the Earhart Foundation for providing me with a generous Fellowship Research Grant for 2005-06 and 2006-07 in writing this dissertation. Thank you all. iii Table of Contents Dedication ......................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents.........................................................................................................................iv Abbreviations of Works by Aristotle .........................................................................................v Chapter 1: Recovering Aristotle for Nature..............................................................................1 1.1 Introduction: The Question Concerning the “Environment” .............................1 1.2 Contemporary Environmentalism..........................................................................13 1.3 Skeptics on Aristotle’s Relevance to the Environment.......................................21 1.4 Aristotle’s Contemporary Relevance......................................................................27 1.5 Survey of Environmental Theory Literature on Aristotle...................................41 Chapter 2: Nature or History?...................................................................................................51 2.1 Nature, Harmony, and Limits .................................................................................55 2.2 Modernity and History .............................................................................................69 2.3 Historicizing Nature.................................................................................................85 Chapter 3: Aristotle’s Conception of Nature ..........................................................................94 3.1 Aristotle’s Anthropocentrism................................................................................100 3.2 The Manifold Senses of Nature............................................................................114 3.3 Energeia and Entelecheia.......................................................................................115 3.4 Heidegger’s Interpretation of Aristotle’s Conception of Phusis......................117 Chapter 4: Aristotle’s Conception of Praxis..........................................................................129 4.1 What is Praxis?.........................................................................................................137 4.2 The Psychological Underpinnings of Praxis .......................................................147 Chapter 5: Virtue and Nature.................................................................................................173 5.1 A New Environmental Ethic?...............................................................................178 5.2 Environmental Virtue Ethics ................................................................................196 5.3 The Critique of Environmental Virtue Ethics....................................................213 5.4 Values or Virtues? ...................................................................................................222 Chapter 6: The Civic Approach to the Environment.........................................................251 6.1 Civic Environmentalism and Environmental Citizenship ................................252 6.1.1 Environmental Citizenship...............................................................................264 6.1.2 Civic Environmentalism....................................................................................286 6.1.3 The Civic Approach to the Environment.......................................................291 6.2 The Political Conjuncture of the Civic Approach..............................................297 6.2.1 Environmentalism in Crisis?.............................................................................301 Chapter 7: Conclusion.............................................................................................................318 7.1 Reconciling Conservative and Environmental Sensibilities..............................322 Bibliography of Works Frequently Cited...............................................................................345 iv Abbreviations of Works by Aristotle De An. De Anima (Peri Psychēs): On the Soul EE Ethica Eudemia (Ethika Eudēmeia): Eudemian Ethics GA De Generatione Animalium (Peri zōōn geneseōs): Generation of Animals HA Historia Animalium (Peri tōn zōōn historiai): History of Animals NE Ethica Nicomachea (Ethika Nikomacheia): Nicomachean Ethics Meta. Metaphysica (Ta meta ta physika): Metaphysics Ph. Physica (Physikē akroasis): Physics Pol. Politica (Politika): Politics Rh. Rhetorica (Rhētorikē technē): Rhetoric v Chapter 1: Recovering Aristotle for Nature It is necessary to leave everything open and questionable; only thus will we be capable of freeing and keeping alive Aristotle’s unresolved innermost questioning, and thereby the questioning of ancient philosophy and accordingly our own.1 1.1 Introduction: The Question Concerning the “Environment” This dissertation revisits Aristotle’s philosophy of praxis to provide insight into our understanding of the contemporary question concerning the “environment.” I challenge the opinion that Aristotle has nothing significant to contribute to the contemporary theorizing of the “environment” by showing how Aristotelian insights can actually illuminate the current debates among environmental scholars and activists on the meaning and significance of