1. Preliminary Exploration of the
Energy Basis of Human Philosophy on the Nature-Human-Supernatural Relationship
David Tilley
Environmental Science & Technology Department
University of Maryland
enst.umd.edu/tilley

2. Outline Review of “Western” philosophy on nature
(Hefferman 2011)
Energy Systems Diagrams to Explore Energy Basis
(Ecological & General Systems Language)

3. Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Western Philosophy on nature
Early Greeks, Pagans (Thales, 624 bce):
natural universe more important to understand than human beings

4. Paganism, Early Greeks

5. Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Socrates (469 bce):
Turn from heavenly phenomena to human affairs.
Human questions front and center.
“Unexamined life is not worth living for a human.”

6. Socrates

7. Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Plato (428 bce):
questions relationship between maker of world and its form and matter.
God is restricted by nature.

8. Plato

9. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Aristotle (384 bce):
emphasizes ethical restraint
denies humans are most valuable beings in Universe.

10. Aristotle

11. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Stoics (Seneca, Epicurus ~ ce):
Virtuous Life is a life lived according to nature, which is the only happy life.
Human duties based in nature.

12. Stoics, Late Greeks

13. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN
Augustine (354 ce):
Dominion, not stewardship, is model for human interaction with nature.
God is omnipotent, not restricted by nature. Unlimited power.
Humans made in Gods likeness,
Aquinas (1225 ce):
“God takes care of nature so humans do not need to worry about it.”

14. Christians: Augustine & Aquinas

15. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Early Modern Secular Science
Copernicus (1473), Galileo (1564):
nature not explained by God’s book.
Bacon (1561):
Scientific investigation of nature for Knowledge.
“Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.”
Descartes (1596):
humans will be masters and possessors of nature.
Anticipates modern “technological fundamentalism”.

16. Early Secular Scientists: Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Descartes

17. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Victorian
Hobbes (1588):
natural resources are limited, but human resourcefulness is unlimited.
Humans are wolves to one another.
Might is right.
Locke (1632):
availability, proportionality, and utility are critical for deciding distribution of goods as private property.
Spinoza (1632):
if God is nature and nature is God, humans should treat nature with respect God deserves.

18. Renaissance: Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza

19. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
1700’s
Hume (1711): human pleasure and utility are only principles to bestow moral worth on actions.
Kant (1724): treat humanity as an end rather than as means to an end. How can humans make valid judgments?
Madison (1751): large population and territory needed for cohesion among disparate groups in a constitutional democracy. Is US democracy sustainable?

20. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Romantics
Rousseau (1712): no greater study than that of nature.
Hegel (1770), Emerson (1803): sensitivity toward nature. Responsible for stewardship of nature.
Comte (1798): need empirical approach to advance understanding of nature (positivism).
Stuart-Mill (1806): individuals maximizing “happiness” leads to all maximizing “happiness”. But can nature be happy?
Nietzche (1844): humans are responsible for nature, not God.
Husserl (1859): humans consume nature without being aware that they constitute nature.

21. 19th Century: Nietsche

22. Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (Hefferman 2011)
Life According to Nature (cont’d) (Hefferman 2011)
Contemporary
Humans have moral duties to nature
Nature has moral rights with respect to humans.
How do non-Western traditions treat this?
H.T. Odum (1926): humans are part of nature, directly connected to it. Depend on it for life support. Biosphere II demonstrated the vital importance of nature for human survival
Ecological Engineering has tenet that recognizes and reinforces nature-human connection.

23. The Energy Ecologists: General Systems, Self-Organization, Ecological Engineering

24. Hierarchical Needs for Nature-Human Sustainability (Tilley 2011)
Nature-human relationship must learn/ evolve
Humanity: confidence nature provides life support
Humanity needs deep awe/respect of nature
(sense of partnership)
Nature & Humanity freedom to develop independently (succession, natural selection, cultural evolution)
Basic Physiology & Ecology
(habitat/shelter, food/water, warmth, clean environ) 5o 4o 3o 2o 1o

25. Summary
Nature-Human-SuperNatural Relationship has Evolved in Western History over 2500 years
Need to explore more to understand Energy Basis of each Period
Energy qualified as Solar Emergy
Common metric
Balance with Nature
Take AND Give Back equally
Knowledge
High Emergy to Make
Depreciates
Continuous Cycle to Maintain
Self-Organizing is SuperNatural
Selection by Maximum Empower

26. References
Hefferman, G., A life according to nature: from ancient theoretical ideal to future sustainable practice. Environmentalist 32(3): DOI /s