ANT339: Exam 2 Flashcards

History of Western Ethnoecology + Principles/Views of Time Periods

Medieval Period (~400-1400 CE)

• physico-theological view: explanations of the physical world that reside in God

• celestial-terrestrial view:

  • celestial - predictable, circular movement around the earth; perfection

  • terrestrial - random, linear movement; imperfection

• anthropocentric view: human themes imposed onto nature

• organic metaphor: Earth as a living being

Renaissance Period (~1300-1500 CE)

• Great Chain of Being: designed hierarchical interconnected divisions within nature meant to fulfill God’s creation

Enlightenment (~1685-1815 CE)

Scientific Revolution (~1543-1703 CE)

• mechanistic metaphor: universe = clock; decoding (math + geometry) machinery allows us to make future predictions

• Baconian Creed: scientific knowledge = power over nature; inductive reasoning → gaining knowledge (making observations) to draw (+induce) conclusions about nature

• geocentric/theocentric view → heliocentric view

• Cartesian dualism: separation between mind and the rest of the world (matter); metaphysical distinction between nature and human thought

Rise of Industrial Capitalism (~1789-1914 CE)

Ernst Haeckel Contributions

“Father of Ecology” ecology: the study of ecosystems; the science of relations of living organisms and the external world

ecocentrism: ecological approach that searches for intrinsic value, order, and purpose within nature and life; believes humans should strive for organic harmony

• Great Chain of Being

• vitalism → idea that all living things have a “vital spirit”; separated inorganic from organic life (organic metaphor connection)

• monism → idea that mind and matter are one; the universe as one level of experience

thesis: populations increase exponentially overtime while resources increase arithmetically over time. defined positive checks (famine/war/disease) and preventative checks (abortion/delayed marriage/contraception). first to consider the fact that systems have constraints and impacts on human populations.

technocentrism

the idea that all environmental needs and problems can be addressed by classical science, technological innovation, and classical economic reasoning; material growth ultimately good and humanely infinite by these means

anthropocentrism

the idea that humans are the main source of value within the cosmos; prioritizes humanity and human needs

transcendentalism. how can transcendentalism be seen as anthropocentric?

nature as a means of transcendence and moral guidance

• vitalism: idea that all living things have a “vital spirit” that separates organic from inorganic things (origins in organic metaphor)

• dualism: separates mind from matter

Transcendentalism can be seen as anthropocentric because it places the value of nature within human experience and sees nature as a tool for humans

Romanticism

movement that emphasized the connection between humans and nature and is against mass-pollution

• origin: push-back against the poor post-industrial living situations within urban settings due to urbanization

• response: movement to the countryside in order to escape the mass-pollution/-production within urban living environments

Utopian Socialism

the idea that an ideal society can be developed and experienced through intellectual thought “elites have the knowledge to build a better society”

Environmental Conservation v. Preservation

Conservation: the systemic protection + controlled use of natural resources for future human benefit (anthropocentric)

Preservation: setting aside natural resources for their intrinsic value/overall aesthetic (ecocentric)

Environmental Bioethic

the idea that the biosphere has intrinsic value and the right to exist regardless of its usefulness to humans

What is the Pristine Myth? How is it possible that in the U.S. there was more forest primeval in the 1800s than the 1600s?

Pristine Myth: “The New World was largely untouched by Native Americans due to their harmony with nature”

1800s v. 1600s:

• New World NAs had largely altered the environment by 1492

• Old World diseases brought to the New World by European explorers led to a rapid and severe decline of NA populations

• By the mid-1800s the NA landscape of 1492 had largely recovered/vanished by the time of the first European settlement