PO 260 - Political Theories of the Environment

Both the ancients and the moderns argue that the concept of “nature” is essential to our understanding of political life.  This course explores the relation between the human (and political life) and the natural.  We will attend especially to modern political thought and the relation of ideas of individual liberty with the purpose of “the conquest of nature.”  That conquest has led both to the loss of natural environments, on the one hand, and to the conquest of natural diseases and the construction of new habitats on the other.  We turn, then, to critiques of the new politics, critiques which seek to restore an appreciation for the wild and its spiritual benefits.  Finally, students will engage in the application of these theories to current environmental debates, and to the tension between preservationists and conservationists.. This course is required for Environmental Studies majors. (Formerly PO 270)

Four credits.