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Are We at War with Nature?

Environmental Values 14(2005): 21-36. doi: 10.3197/0963271053306122

A number of people, from William James to Dave Foreman and Vandana Shiva, have suggested that humans are at war with nature. Moreover, the analogy with warfare figures in at least one important argument for strategic monkeywrenching. In general, an analogy can be used for purposes of (1) justification; (2) persuasion; or (3) as a tool for generating novel hypotheses and recommendations. This paper argues that the analogy with warfare should not be used for justificatory or rhetorical purposes, but that it may nevertheless have a legitimate heuristic role to play in environmental philosophy.

KEYWORDS: Monkeywrenching, ecosabotage, war, analogy, metaphor

REFERENCES to other articles in Environmental Values:

The Morality of Ecosabotage Thomas Young

CITATIONS in other Environmental Values articles

Natura economica in Environmental ValuationKatrine Soma

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