WILDERNESS AND CULTURE

摘要

The term wilderness is one of the more mischievous, elusive, and conflict-laden words in the Enghsh language. The ways we think and talk about wilderness are well embedded in modem culture and the debates surrounding it have as much to do with meaning, values, and human perception as they have to do with the ever-changing physical world. This Essay explores the complex ways that wilderness and contemporary culture are hnked. Its central claim is that the cultural clashes surrounding wilderness arise out of, and reflect, not just larger cultural currents, but fundamental confusions or deficiencies in the ways we comprehend the world and our place in it. They reflect deficiencies in the ways we think about ourselves as distinct beings, in our understandings of normative values and their origins and legitimacy, and in the limits nature imposes on our modes of living. These intellectual shortcomings play key causal roles in our ongoing patterns of misusing the natural order. They also help explain why we struggle so much to see the errors in our ways and to improve them, even when we have the facts and technology to do better. Once we see wilderness clearly, separating the physically real from the human-constructed, we can gain a better sense of our ecological plight. We can also see better how wilderness areas can benefit us, not just by supporting the health of landscapes, but by providing places and opportunities to stimulate much needed cultural change.