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The Historic Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis

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... In his well-known critique "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis", historian Lynn White Jr. (1967) illuminated the important connections between time and the Judeo-Christian worldview. Invented in the 13th century, the mechanical clock had been widely adopted by the Latin church by the early 14th century. ...
... Invented in the 13th century, the mechanical clock had been widely adopted by the Latin church by the early 14th century. White called the mechanical clock the "most monumental achievement in the history of automation" and noted the important role it played in both the scientific and technological revolutions in the West (White 1967(White , p. 1204. Not only did it function as a means of telling time, but it also served to "illustrate the orderliness of God's creation" (White 1973, p. 59). ...
... In the Judeo-Christian view, the world was "planned in every detail for [hu]man's use and edification, and for no other purpose" (White 1973, p. 63). This view established a dualism between humans and the non-human natural world and "insisted that it is God's will that [hu]man[s] exploit nature for [their] proper ends" (White 1967(White , p. 1205; see also Nichols 2023). This understanding, White said, has deeply informed and "facilitated our style of technology and thus has been a major force in polluting our globe" (White 1973, p. 63). ...
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Uranium mining for the production of nuclear technologies has left visible scars across the United States and perpetuated legacies of extraction that extend beyond material consumption to the exploitation of people and the environment. Influenced by important ongoing conversations in the environmental and energy humanities, posthumanism, and decolonial studies, I analyze how uranium extraction has been conceived of as an “event” within a colonial temporal framework. A critical examination of how religious worldviews have informed the ways that time is conceptualized and understood shifts thinking about extraction away from colonial temporalities and helps reimagine extraction through a decolonial perspective as temporally distributed, enmeshed, and complex. This reframing is imperative to foster an understanding that the radioactive byproducts of uranium created through the nuclear production process are globally dispersed, will persist across generations, and will have transgenerational implications for human and non-human organisms and the health and viability of ecologic systems.
... The result of science that is not based on religion has significant implications for changing the human worldview. So, the current problem is a hot debate about Christianity and the biblical text as triggers for the emergence of anthropocentrism; it influences humans to place themselves as the center of life, as seen from the actions of humans who prioritise their happiness, while others are only tools or objects to be exploited (Bassey, 2019, p. 162), similar to White's (1967) statement that Christianity bears an enormous burden in today's ecological problems because Christianity IJoReSH : Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Humanity Vol. 3, no.2 (2024), pp. 197-220 is an anthropocentric religion that allows humans to exploit nature to support human needs (White, 1967, p. 3). ...
... He contended that technological potential and scientific ideas had been united at this juncture, greatly enhancing human capacity to damage and exploit the environment. However, he also argued that the Industrial Revolution's mentality-that the planet was a resource for human consumption-was far older than the invention of technology and had its origins in views toward nature and medieval Christianity (White, 1967(White, , p. 1205. ...
... He wrote: "What we do about ecology depends on our ideas of the man-nature relationship. More science and more technology are not going to get us out of the present ecologic crisis until we find a new religion, or rethink our old one… Hence we shall continue to have a worsening ecologic crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man" (White, 1967(White, , pp. 1206(White, -1207. ...
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This article explores the origins of anthropocentrism in Christian eco-theology, a concept mainly introduced by Lynn White (1907-1987). It also examines the subsequent debates, especially from the perspective of theocentrism, which opposes the Anthropocentric model. Content analysis is used to understand the language and social functions of anthropocentrism and Christian eco-theology in academic literature while also examining the key arguments related to the topic. Meanwhile, discourse analysis is employed to reinforce the findings. The study concludes that Lynn White’s work, The Historical Roots, initiated further contemporary debate on Christian eco-theology. As experts claimed, the error committed by White may have caused tremendous damage to the Christian tradition. However, it also enriched subsequent inquiries into the development of Christian eco-theology. Moreover, the anthropocentric framework in Christian eco-theology was also partly a result of misinterpreting Genesis 1:27, which is closely related to the various interpretations of Imago Dei (image of God). Theocentrism, as such, possibly occupies a central position in present-day apologetics regarding eco-theology in Christianity, providing further opportunities for discussion in defending Christ's relevance to the recent environmental crisis.
... Existing research on the relationship between religion and environmental concern has yielded complex and often contradictory findings (Pudlo, 2019). While some studies suggest that certain religious beliefs, particularly those rooted in Western traditions like Christianity, may promote anthropocentric worldviews and hinder environmental concern (Boyd, 1999;White, 1967), others have found positive associations between religiosity and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors (Habito, 2007;Sherkat and Ellison, 2007). Simultaneously, a group of researchers have undertaken an investigation into the question of whether religions are displaying a growing proclivity toward environmentally sustainable practices, through a comprehensive review of the abundant literature on the subject (Taylor et al., 2016). ...
... Western religions, particularly Christianity, are often critiqued for their "anthropocentric" worldview. White (1967) had already argued that the environmental crisis we face has deep roots in Western Christian thought. He critiques the Judeo-Christian concept of humans having "dominion" over creation. ...
... He critiques the Judeo-Christian concept of humans having "dominion" over creation. He posits that radical transformations in religious cosmologies are indispensable if we aim to halt or even reverse the anthropogenic harm to the environment (White, 1967). James M. Gustafson, however, offered a more nuanced perspective in A Sense of the Divine: The Natural Environment from a Theocentric Perspective. ...
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This study explores the influence of religious beliefs on environmental attitudes and behaviors in China. Using data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), two structural equation models were constructed to examine the mediating roles of natural empathy and anthropocentrism in the relationship between environmental awareness and willingness to make sacrifices for environmental protection. The results indicated that while environmental awareness positively influenced willingness to sacrifice, natural empathy did not significantly mediate this relationship. Conversely, anthropocentrism negatively mediated the relationship, suggesting that individuals with anthropocentric tendencies were less willing to make personal sacrifices for environmental protection. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis revealed that individuals with traditional Eastern religious beliefs (Buddhism, Taoism, and folklore) exhibited higher environmental awareness and willingness to sacrifice compared to those with no religion or traditional Western (Christianity) religious beliefs. These findings highlight the influence of religious traditions, particularly the emphasis on nature reverence in Eastern religions, on shaping pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. The study contributes to understanding the complex interplay between religious beliefs, environmental values, and sustainable behaviors in the Chinese context.
... We will then examine the ways that 'secular culture' in New Zealand draws on occluded and hidden ideologies with origins in Christianity. In particular, we locate the biblical imperative to exercise dominion over all creation as a key feature behind settler secularity (White 1967;Rountree and Zachariah 2023). While there is substantial literature emerging that examines decolonial discourse on social media in Aotearoa (Fitzpatrick 2021;Beausoleil 2022), little attention has been paid to the religious dimensions within these conversations. ...
... The idea that behaviour towards nature is devoid of moral obligations stretches back to Christian ideologies of dominion over land (White 1967;Colgan 2023, p. 30). These ideologies were part and parcel of the colonisation that occurred as European settlers displaced Māori throughout Aotearoa. ...
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The religious landscape of Aotearoa New Zealandis a dynamic and shifting field. One of the most riveting dimensions of religion is blooming via an indigenous Māori renaissance, which is displayed in a struggle over narratives, language, and tikanga (protocol) around sacred sites. In the digital age, social media platforms have become sites of negotiation, contestation, and the clarification of Māori religious authority in relation to sacred places. One of the hallmarks of digital culture is the flattening of traditional modes of hierarchical authority. In this article, we explore the discourse in an online news article’s comment section debating tikanga around nudity on the summit of Taranaki Mountain, a place widely regarded as sacred to Māori. This project follows the work of Neumaier and Klinkhammer in tracing the contours of what we identify as a form of mediatised interreligious contact between settler secularity and Indigenous Māori. Using this frame, we argue that this case study affords a deeper understanding of Māori perspectives, settler appeals to secularity, and the digital environment shaping and forming these points of contact.
... Climate change has played a part in this (Malcolm et al. 2005;Steffen et al. 2009;Abbott and Le Maitre 2010;Enright and Fontaine 2014) but European settlers have done much to accelerate the process. Australia has one of the worst records in the world when it comes to protecting our native plants and animals (Burbidge and McKenzie 1989;Recher 2015;Fulton 2017;Wayne et al. 2017). 1 Australia's British and European heritage must take much of the blame for this in the way in which man has claimed and exercised 'dominion' over the animal world (White 1967;Vose 2009). It is not well known that the revised Magna Carta, issued by Henry III in 1217, was actually two charters -a Charter of Liberties and a Charter of the Forest. ...
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This essay is based on my 2019 George Seddon Memorial Lecture at the University of Western Australia. Professor George Seddon AM (1927–2007), had a Ph.D. in geology but held the Chair of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of New South Wales and later became Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies and the Dean of Architecture and Planning at Melbourne University. Across five decades he held Chairs in four different disciplines (English, University of Western Australia; Geology, University of Oregon; History and Philosophy of Science, University of New South Wales; Environmental Science, University of Melbourne) and taught at universities in Lisbon, Toronto, Bologna, Rome, Venice, Minnesota and Oregon. He was awarded the Eureka Prize from the Australian Museum in 1995, the Mawson Medal from the Academy of Science in 1996 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Planning Institute of Australia.
... According to the story of creation in Christianity, the all-powerful God created Adam and Eve and then he created all animals and other things in nature, only to serve man's purposes. Christianity established a dualism of man and nature and also "insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends" (White, 1967(White, , p. 1205. Thus, Christianity put the human in a supreme position and legitimised the use of nature by humans. ...
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Our economy and society must be based on the principle of sustainability. Sustainability is an important concept in today’s times because the present dominant paradigm of development equates growth with development. This paradigm encourages more and more production and consumption. More production requires more extraction of natural resources which are inherently limited on earth. Thus, the current dominant paradigm of development has given rise to grave problems such as natural resource deterioration and depletion, global warming and climate change and pollution. On this backdrop, the way forward should be the development based on sustainability principles. But the bigger question is if this will be enough to halt and reverse the changes that have been caused in the environment. Because in all these measures, we are not addressing the root cause of the problem. The root cause is our anthropocentric viewpoint that is at the heart of this obsession with growth. To address the root cause, what we need is a renewed understanding and outlook toward the environment. This should be based on the understanding that growth that we are all obsessed with requires natural resources which are all limited. And therefore, we cannot aim for limitless growth. Also, we must realize and acknowledge that the root cause lies in the present dominant paradigm of anthropocentrism which only considers the instrumental value of everything in nature.
... In particular, the commandment to observe the Sabbath has received growing attention in contemporary society (including beyond Judaism) with the popularization of "gap" years or sabbatical years. Although life in the medieval monastery was dedicated to progress (White 1967), it was organized from an (admittedly human-centered) long-term perspective. ...
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The discourse on understanding and implementing sustainable development has so far focused primarily on the external aspects, neglecting the internal dimension of people. The main purpose of our paper is to contribute to addressing this research gap. Therefore, we intend to (1) substantiate existing aspects of the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), (2) complement them, and (3) link the concept of the IDGs to normative discourses in Christian Social Ethics and Social Philosophy. Our results show that the dimensions of Being, Relating, and Collaborating in the IDG Framework can be substantiated by the normative discourse on spirituality and by reference to the social principle of personality in Christian Social Ethics, as well as by the Indian Social Philosophical Perspective of Vimala Thakar which focuses on a value-based approach. This paper suggests that the concept of the IDGs will be strengthened by adding the dimension of Caring—understood as the concern and responsibility for the wholeness in the combining of the inner and outer dimensions. By linking the concept of the Inner Development Goals to the existing normative discourses in Christian Social Ethics and Social Philosophy, our research contributes to making the concept connectable and deepens the discussions on a practical and theoretical level.
... We build on the long and ongoing environmental turn in the humanities, which, from its inception in the 1960s, sought to emphasize the mutual social construction of society and environment (White 1967;Carson 1994). More recently, both anthropogenic climate change and wider debates around the Anthropocene have centered ecological questions with increasing urgency in both the environmental humanities and media studies (for an overview, see Rose et al. 2012;Starosielski 2019;Castree 2021; on the "elemental Anthropocene," see Neale et al. 2019). ...
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This article introduces wind humanities as a burgeoning field, exploring how wind shapes experience, reasoning, artistic and knowledge production. It positions wind as a medium, model, and lived experience, drawing on environmental humanities, media studies, and artistic practice to investigate wind’s methodological, epistemological, and ontological implications for humanistic inquiry. The authors situate this emergent field within the broader environmental and elemental turn in the humanities and media studies, highlighting its connections to new materialism and its potential to transform our understanding of both wind and the elemental more broadly. They suggest a rich and evolving landscape of inquiry around wind, highlighting past work and introducing the ten contributions to this stream, which explore wind as media, model, and experience across military technology, volumetric poetry, a libretto, animacies, aesthetics, diffraction, environmental perception, risk communication, indigenous cosmologies, and energy infrastructure.
... It was only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that philosophy began to devote greater attention to nature, which led to the emergence of a range of environmental concepts. However, the formal discipline of environmental philosophy benefited from the advent of Western professional environmental ethics in the 1960s and 1970s, which provided a foundation for its development (Blackstone; William, 1974;Naess, 1973;Passmore, 1974;Rolston, 1975;Singer, 1975;Sylvan, 1973;White, 1967). The increasing ecological and environmental challenges facing developed Western nations ultimately led to the emergence of environmental ethics as a systematic academic discipline. ...
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Contemporary environmental ethics is confronted with a dual dilemma, namely the tension between theoretical and practical considerations. In response, scholars have pursued a variety of avenues, with the practice-oriented approach emerging as the dominant trend. The practice of environmental ethics can be analyzed according to two paradigms: the applied ethics paradigm and the practical ethics paradigm. Both paradigms suggest the possibility of a certain kind of sustainability ethics, namely the development of traditional environmental ethics into a public, applied sustainability ethics. In other words, the advancement of traditional environmental ethics, which is theoretically superior, into a form of public and applied sustainability ethics may prove an effective means of addressing the current challenges facing environmental ethics.
... This is duly illustrated by Balcomb's (2019) discussion of the recent growing interest in IR as protagonist of nature conservation. In revisiting Lynne White's (1967) classic accusation of Christianity's complicity in environmental destruction, he argues that IR has become somewhat of a redeeming agent based on its inherent inclination to environmental harmony and conservation. He challenges IR's perceived faith-induced harmony with nature by presenting a pragmatist view of IR that approaches nature with reverence born from a mixture of "fear, respect, and a sense of profound dependence" (Balcomb 2019:4), more than anything else. ...
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The article brings practical theology into dialogue with African Indigenous Knowledge (AIK). The conversation stands in service of informing eco-pastoral care during the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is framed in the African context to arrive at the notion of the African Anthropocene which poses unique challenges to the continent. Eco-pastoral care is envisaged as the active engagement of faith communities in biodiversity conservation. As it is assumed that practical theology and pastoral care are at their core Western notions, the research is performed as part of the contextualization discourse, seeking theoretically to further embed them in the African context. This motivates the discourse with AIK as an ancient source of wisdom that may further motivate African faith communities to act as pastoral stewards of the earth as it may resonate with African culture and ways of being in the world. This research proposes that the task of practical theology resides in initiating and stimulating conversations with African faith communities who are the custodians of AIK that can lead to the construction and practice of eco-pastoral care.
... His book was a response to the article 'The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis' by Lynn Townsend White Jr., which was published in the same year. In it, White claimed that the Christian-Jewish anthropocentric worldview was responsible for humans' aggressive treatment of nature and for the resulting destruction of the environment (White 1968). ...
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The Islamic environmental theology (IET) that emerged in the 20th century is analyzed and two main strands are pursued: the efforts to protect the environment derived from the thinking of some Muslim scholars and activists in Europe and North America, and the discourse of Muslim theologians in Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan that developed in the face of environmental destruction and associated problems in the societies concerned. The topic of water, i.e., the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of clean water and access to sanitation, played a particularly important initial role in the discourse in Arab countries. Jordan, for example, is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and, since 2010, various fatwas have been seen, such as expert opinions from the General Iftaa’ Department, the state authority for Islamic jurisprudence in Jordan, on the use of water. The discourse of Muslim jurists on the Sustainable Development Goals in general has developed from this. At the same time, it is obvious that the normative theology in Arab countries is more reactive than progressive concerning the challenges of climate change. This article comes to the conclusion that Islamic theology, even if it starts from the same resources of tradition, comes to form different discourses depending on the regional context. This study will show how institutions of Islamic law respond to climate change and what flexibility is inherent in Islamic theology to meet these challenges.
... However, a closer examination of White's line of thought reveals that his more profound concern was "the Baconian creed" which has equated scientific knowledge with "technological power over nature". White views the widespread acceptance of this creed in the eighteenth century as "the greatest event in human history since the invention of agriculture, and perhaps in nonhuman terrestrial history as well", which could be accused of being the "root" of our ecological problems (White 1967). ...
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In the burgeoning field of ecotheology, scholars have been compelled to propose typologies to introduce and categorize existing but diffuse ecotheological insights. Taking ecotheology as a particular epistemic theology, I argue for an alternative way of typologizing that entails meticulously examining the extent to which ecotheologians engage with competing epistemes, namely “postcolonial typology”. To illustrate, I will examine a range of ecotheological works from a postcolonial nation, Indonesia. I present three groups of ecotheologies: the “expansionist”, the “tribalist”, and the “essentialist” approaches (or strategies). The expansionist group extends or expands the systematic theology formerly introduced by European missionaries during the colonial period as a way to ecologize their theology. The tribalist approach prioritizes retrieving and incorporating local or tribal wisdom. Finally, the essentialist group focuses on identifying categorical frameworks that may signify “Indonesianness”, which involves a “strategic” choice of essentialism that yields to a national or transtribal theological cohesion. In the end, I will also note one pedagogical implication of employing postcolonial typology.
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Despite extensive research on the influence of religion on pro‐environmental behavior, little attention has been paid to the role of religious epics—that is, narratives that embody the core beliefs and moral values of religious traditions—as a mechanism for promoting such behavior. Using Hinduism as a case, this research seeks to bridge this gap by contrasting the orientations of idealism in the Ramayana with realism in the Mahabharata, offering a better understanding of how these distinct orientations in religious epics can shape pro‐environmental behavior. Utilizing belief congruence theory as a theoretical framework, this four‐study research examines altruism as a mediator and materialism as a moderator in understanding the role of religious epics in shaping pro‐environmental behavior. The findings suggest that the idealistic orientation of the Ramayana fosters stronger pro‐environmental behavior through heightened altruistic values, whereas the realistic orientation of the Mahabharata shows a less pronounced effect, which is further attenuated by materialism. These insights not only contribute to the theoretical discourse on consumer behavior, ethics, religion, and sustainability, but also offer practical implications for leveraging religious epics in fostering pro‐environmental behavior in a materialistic world.
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Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his books on the dire threat of climate change, Harvard Professor of Biology, Edward Wilson, judges that “for the first time in history a conviction has developed among those who can actually think more than a decade ahead that we are playing a global end game”. In this essay, we seek to show that the global end game to which Wilson refers and which we will name ecological crisis demonstrate that humans and Nature are not separated, indeed cannot be separated, and that it is the human attempt to separate them that has generated the ecological crisis. We first lay out the detailsof climate change and then offer some theological suggestions to alter the end game and reverse and heal climate change.
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The previous chapter has introduced an enlarged definition of anthropocentrism as a heuristic device against which the emergence of an ecological jurisprudence will be cast. Anthropocentrism thus construed refers to the belief that modern human beings are located—in an ontological, and, or, in an ethical sense—at the centre of the cosmos and at the pinnacle of progress and evolution.
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What underpins the worldview that sees the environmental damages outlined in the previous chapter as legally invisible or at least legally irrelevant ? Swimme and Tucker point out that, in relatively recent times.
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The ecological crisis is a major challenge facing humanity. For centuries, our conviction that nature’s strength is insurmountable hindered the development of the idea that human actions may pose a threat to nature. As a result of the industrial revolution, people experienced the effects of the environmental crisis on a global scale. This has led to an increased sense of awareness that the Earth is fragile, vulnerable, and defenseless in the face of the actions of man who uses the advances of science and technology against nature. Moreover, the aftermath of environmental devastation may prove irreversible, threatening the survival of human beings or even life itself on our planet. Thus, raising environmental awareness has become a crucial element in overcoming the ecological crisis. Only people who are aware of existing threats and the consequences of their actions can abandon egoistic, destructive attitudes toward nature and build sustainable attitudes toward the natural environment. Many studies highlight the awakening of environmental consciousness. Various publications, expert reports, international organizations’ initiatives, and the actions of politicians are among the crucial factors that can act as a catalyst for stirring this consciousness. Yet the role of religion in triggering and deepening environmental awareness is rarely discussed. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to show the contribution of religion in this regard, with a particular focus on the role of Christianity. Christianity’s contribution has been confirmed by official statements from Christian leaders on ecological issues as well as publications from the beginning of the 20th century that addressed the ecological crisis from the Christian perspective. The author hopes that further studies will show the contribution of other religions thereby complementing our knowledge on the role religion plays in overcoming the environmental crisis.
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Resumo A crise ecológica é uma das questões ambientais que mais afetam o planeta, e é causada pela ecodessacralização, um conceito definido pela relegação das identidades divinas da natureza ao esquecimento a partir do ceticismo ambiental. Dúvidas sobre a realidade da degradação ambiental ou das mudanças climáticas e desertificação carregam em si uma forte visão antropocêntrica da natureza. O ceticismo pode ter aprofundado a compreensão humana sobre o mundo natural, mas também destruiu o meio ambiente. Neste estudo, argumenta-se que a ecodessacralização é uma forma de avareza ambiental, e medidas devem ser tomadas para mudar a forte percepção antropocêntrica atual sobre o mundo natural. Para superar tal percepção, buscamos desvelar a ética conservacional africana, profundamente enraizada na ecologia nativo-cêntrica. Esse conceito desfaz atitudes negativas e as reconstrói, com vistas ao bem comum da humanidade. Este estudo conclui que a ressacralização do meio ambiente pelo ensino-aprendizagem da ecologia nativo-cêntrica nas escolas pode mitigar os impactos da crise ecológica.
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Historically, the notion of nature or the place outside the city in Phaedrus has been read as a proto-pastoral dialogue. If we accept this reading of Plato’s dialogue, Phaedrus hierarchizes the landscape where the city is perceived as superior to the noncity. However, I argue that Plato offers an alternative in Phaedrus that opposes the country–city hierarchized binary. Rather than seeing the natural world as a starting place for intellectual knowledge, Plato refuses the pastoral impulse that projects a construction of nature in Phaedrus. Instead, he values the noncity as any other place where individuals can come together in a dialectical fashion to ascertain truth. Indeed, Socrates’ orientation toward the setting in Phaedrus suggests that he is practicing a rhetoric of immersion in the ambient nonhuman place around him before attempting to project meaning onto it.
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