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do). In this chapter, I've argued that 'nature' is not a given, waiting to be
analysed, experienced or interacted with. I've suggested, instead, that it's a
way of categorising and labelling the world, one that's best understood in
the context of its collateral concepts and the wider discursive 'rule book'
characteristic of Western societies.
'Nature' should, by rights, belong to the family of what philosopher
Walter Gallie (1956) famously called 'essentially contested concepts', such
is its range and variety of meaning, reference and application. We should
always be on the lookout for the diverse and complex uses to which the term
and its filial concepts are put in a wide range of sites and situations. And
yet, strangely, it's easy to forget this fact and presume that nature is a given
- something 'mind independent', or at least independent of any thoughts
particular minds might have about it. In the next two chapters, I focus less
on what nature is made to mean by us and for us, and focus much more on
meaning-making as anorganised anddifferentiated social process, thoughone
that most of us only participate in as recipients and consumers. By the end of
these two chapters, readers should be able to understand why the ideas pre-
sented in this chapter matter - and why the overall approach I am taking to
'nature' and its collateral ideas is more than simply intellectual interest.
Before I proceed, let me make it clear that, in seeking to 'denaturalise
nature', I am not advocating for the demise of this signifier or its collateral
terms. On the contrary, I think 'nature' is here to stay - at least for a while
longer. Literary scholar Timothy Morton's (2010) plea to dispense with the
language of 'nature' in order to make space for what he calls 'the ecological
thought' strikes me as utopian, if not premature. As Morton himself rightly
acknowledges, 'since we've been addicted to Nature for so long, giving up
will be painful' (2010: 95). It seems to me that we're not yet at the point
where we're prepared to experience the pain in order to apprehend the world
in new ways. Until we are, we should focus more on managing the addiction
effectively rather than seeking a cure.
ENDNOTES
1
Though many of us have little difficulty acknowledging our 'animal nature', it's worth
recalling that a generation ago a great many people had learnt to define their 'human-
ity' in strictly non-biological terms - hence the shocked reaction (even publication
bans, in some countries) to Desmond Morris's (1967) bestseller
The naked ape
.This
reaction recalls the even larger negative reaction in some quarters to Darwin's (1859)
The origin of species
, which scandalised Victorian society by proposing that
homo sapiens
were accidental creations of nature not God.
2
This way of talking and thinking underpins the long-standing debates in both
academia and public life about our purported 'domination of nature' and the 'human
impact' on the natural environment. Many believe that the society-nature dualism
in Western thought is at the root of present-day environmental degradation and our
casual disregard for the non-human world.
3
The so-called Deepwater Horizon incident occurred when an exploratory drilling rig
caught fire and the well cap on the ocean floor then failed to stem the flow of oil.
The leakage lasted many weeks and constituted the largest offshore oil spill in US
