Wilderness is one of the fundamental concepts of environmental philosophy. It is commonly recognized as being a place without human presence; yet is also a feeling of fear and awe, and a particular state of heightened consciousness, as the “–ness” (re: happiness & sadness) implies. Wilderness: Theory and Practice is designed to help you understand...Continue Reading

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect...Continue Reading

Alan Lightman, of the physics & creative writing departments at MIT, has published an essay in the NYTs that expresses his fear of “nature” and of dying. It is wonderfully naive, and a perfect example of the collapsing epistemology of industrial capitalism (that MIT has for its entire existence promulgated with brownfield, cancercluster and bankrupt-economy...Continue Reading

I”m trying to remember where I was. Until I do please let me entertain you with a tale of local color. When my family moved from to Westhampton about eight years ago, one of the first friends we made were our neighbors, Dan and Jessie Krug. We were very lucky to meet them because they...Continue Reading

There are times —esp. around national elections when we”re surfeited by political mythologies (many of them pathological)— I want to write about the giant subject of what our national creed is, and how our rights derive from nature. SO……. I stand w/Jefferson, who claimed that “freedom is the gift of nature.” Allow me to explain; but...Continue Reading

We”re in full nectar flow here in the Nonotuck biome—& even a zombie can feel the anima: the “soul, spirit, life, air, breeze, breath.” If you can, stand beneath an apple tree at sunset tonight, down wind. You”ll be enveloped in the sweetness of anima, promise. Close your eyes and breathe. Not only will you...Continue Reading