NATURALIZING the BOUNDARY

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NATURALIZING the BOUNDARY between HUMANITY AND
NATURE
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By J. Baird Callicott Professor of Philosophy
and Religion Studies Institute of Applied
Sciences University of North Texas
photo by priscilla solis ybarra
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Boundaries between humanity and nature in
traditional Western thought are essentially
essentialistic metaphysical
Judeo-Christian tradition Man uniquely created
in image of God (a mysterious, non-empirical
property, if God not physical) also (later)
uniquely endowed with an immortal soul
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Boundaries between humanity and nature in
traditional Western thought are essentially
essentialistic quasi-metaphysical
Greco-Roman tradition Reason (rationality) is
mans essence Plato mathematized rationality
(ratio root of rationality the capacity for
calculation). Aristotle defined anthropos as
the rational animal
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Boundaries between humanity and nature in
traditional Western thought are essentially
essentialistic quasi-metaphysical
Early Modern Cartesian tradition J-C
G-R Rationality is image of God in man and
immortal element of human soul.
Descartes connects rationality with creative use
of language, a capacity unique to humans, even
the least intelligent. Parrots seem to
use language, but only reproduce the sounds
they hear and cannot recombine elements to
create novel expressions. Hence, D
concludes, they do not think and therefore they
have no rational (immortal) soul.
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Charles Darwin erases the boundary between
humanity and Nature with Descent of Man, in 1872
Argues that such seemingly unique human
capacities as speech, intelligence, even
religion, and ethics, evolved from nascent or
insipient capacities possessed by non-human
animals, such as complex call systems among
primates (speech), problem- solving skills
exhibited by various species (intelligence),
dogs howling at the moon
(religion via superstition), expanded parental
and filial affections plus social instincts
and sympathies (ethics).
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Post-Darwinian boundaries between humanity and
nature persist in anthropologyalso essentially
essentialistic, albeit empirical

• Unique use of language proper
• Unique use of tools
• But . . .
• Chimpanzees and gorillas taught use of ASL
• (2) Chimpanzees also discovered to make and
• use toolse.g., modified sticks to fish

for termites.
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Aldo Leopold makes the obliterated boundary
between humanity and nature a cornerstone of his
land ethic
It is a century now since Darwin gave us the
first glimpse of the origin of species. We
know now what was unknown to all the preceding
caravan of generations that men are only fellow
voyagers with other creatures in the odyssey of
evolution. This new knowledge should have given
us, by this time, a sense of kinship with fellow
creatures . . . and a wish to live and let
live. A land ethic changes the role of Homo
sapiens from conqueror of the land community to
plain
member and citizen of it. It implies respect for
his fellow members and also respect for the
community as such.
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Also following Darwin, Leopold takes community
membership to be the foundation of ethics (and
environmental ethics)
As man advances in civilization, and small
tribes are united into larger communities, the
simplest reason would tell each individual
that he ought to extend his social instincts and
sym- pathies to all the members of the same
nation, though personally unknown to him.CD
All ethics so far evolved rest on a single
premise that the individual is a member of a
community of interdependent parts.AL
Evolutionary biology and ecology simply enlarges
the boundaries of the community to include soils,
waters, plants, and animals, or collectively the
land.AL
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But the erased boundary between humanity and
nature has paradoxical consequences for the
Leopold land ethic
To be a part, yet to be apart to be a part of
the land community yet to view or see oneself as
a part of that community (and thus to remain
apart from it)that is the dilemma. . . . If man
is a plain member and citizen of the land
community, one of thousands of accretions to the
pyramid of life, then he cannot be a nonmember
and conqueror of it and his actions (like the
actions of other organisms) cannot but express
his position within the pyramid of life.Peter
Fritzell
If Homo sapiens is a part of nature then human
actions, no less than the actions of other
species, are naturaljust another intriguing
chapter in the biography of the Earth, no more
subject to ethical praise or condemnation than
the actions of other species.
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The erased boundary between humanity and nature
is especially confounding and vexing for
contemporary conservation biology
What to conserve? Biodiversity. But . . . can
be humanly enhanced or increased locally by
adding exotic species. What is an exotic
species? One that got to where it is by
human agencywhether intentional or
unintentionalReed Noss. Alternative
conservation goal biological integrity. What is
that? A biotic community approaching a condition
of naturalness, i.e., free of human
influencePaul Angermeier and James Karr
Nothing in biology makes sense except in the
light of evolution Theodosius Dobzhansky
(quoted with approval by Gary Meffe) But in
light of evolution, human beings are a part of,
not apart from nature.
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The philosophical challenge to environmental
ethics and conservation biology preserve the
boundary between humanity and nature, but do so
consistent with the foundational implications of
Darwinism.
Biotic communities composed of species
populations. Ecosystems composed of
processessuch as energy flows (photo- synthesis
and metabolism) and nutrient cycles (nitrogen,
calcium) of which organisms of various species
are agents. Key concept natural boundaries
(surfaces) emerge at the interface between
processes occurring on different temporal
scalesT.F.H. Allen and T. W. Hoekstra The
landscape is hierarchically structured by a small
number of processes into a number of nested
levels, each of which has its own physical
textures and frequencies. That is, the processes
that generate discontinuous time dynamics also
generate discontinuous physical structure.C.S.
Holling
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Photosynthesisindividual tree. Ecological
successiongroup of trees (woods) Disturbance
regimespatchy landscape, such as oak
savanna. Climate biomes (desert, forest,
prairie, tundra)
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Temporal scales suggested by C. S. Holling in
Cross-scale Morphology, Geometry, and Dynamics
of Ecosystems, each driven by various biological
and suprabiological pro- cesses.
1. the vegetative (organismic) temporal
scale (photosynthesis and metabolism) 2. the
ecological temporal scale (succession and
disturbance) 3. the climatic temporal
scale (mean annual temperature moisture
fluctuations) 4. the evolutionary temporal
scale (adaptation, speciation, extinction) 5.
the geo-morphological temporal scale (plate
tectonics, up thrust, erosion, rock cycle)
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C. S. Holling identifies several major temporal
scales set by various biological and
suprabiological processes.
Photosynthesis and metabolism the vegetative
or organismic scale. Diurnal (alteration of
light and dark) annual (seasonal alteration of
growth and dormancy / life cycle of annual
plants / decomposition of detritus) decadal
(life cycle of shrubs and scrubby trees)
centennial (life-cycle of long-lived trees)
Scale _at_ 1 day - 1000 years
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C. S. Holling identifies several major temporal
scales set by various biological and
suprabiological processes.
Succession and disturbance the ecological scale.
Annual (herbaceous annuals gt
perennial weeds gt shrub and scrub) decadal
(shrub/scrub gt forest // fire, flood,
high-wind, grazing, disease, insect-irruption //
animal population cycles) centennial
(second-growth forest gt old growth // fire,
flood, high-wind, disease, insect-irruption
millennial (old growth gt climax)
Scale _at_ 1 year - 5,000 years
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C. S. Holling suggests several major temporal
scales set by various biological and
suprabiological processes.
Fluctuations in temperature and rainfall the
climatic temporal scale Centennial at regional
spatial scale (decade-long warmer/colder, wetter/d
ryer periods do not count as climate change, but
Little Ice Age 1550-1850 does) millennial
at global spatial scale (last glacial incursion
began to end 14,000-16,000) multi-millennial
(Pleistocene began 2-3 million years ago and
includes 4 major pulses, punctuated by
interstadials and Pleistocene 1 of 6 sets of
glacial epocs occurring at roughly 925, 800,
680, 450, 330, and 2-3 million years BP).
Scale _at_ 3-5 C yrs - 3-5 K yrs (regional)/1 K
yrs - 3-5 M yrs (global)
Complicated by seasonality the climates of
Houston and El Paso are differentiated more by
avg. ann. rainfall (H _at_ 48 / EP _at_8) than
temp. (H _at_ 69F / EP _at_ 64F), but the climates
of Dallas and Seattle, while temperature
differences are significant (D _at_65F / S
_at_53F), rainfall is _at_ the same (D _at_ 33 / S _at_
36).
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C. S. Holling identifies several major temporal
scales set by various biological and
suprabiological processes.
Adaptation, speciation, extinction the
evolutionary temporal scale. Decadal/centennial
(some insects can speciate after several hundred
generations), millennial (Homo sapiens sapiens
has existed 100,000 - 200,000 years),
multimillennial (average life-span of vascular
plant vertebrate animal spp is 1 million
years) sharks extant for 100 million years.
Scale _at_ 10 thousand - 10 million yrs (ignoring
outliers such as rapidly evolving insects and
the incredibly long-lived sharks)
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C. S. Holling identifies several major temporal
scales set by various biological and
suprabiological processes.
Plate tectonics, up thrust, weathering, and the
rock cycle geo-morphological temporal scale.
Millions of years (mountain up thrust15 million
years at plate movement rate of 2-15 cm per
year mountain weathering100 million years)
billions of years (rock cycle spreading from
deep ocean seams, plate migration, up thrust,
weathering, sedimentation, subduction,
melting.) scale _at_ millions to billions of
years
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Boundary conditions at the interface of temporal
scales
Albeit themselves dynamic, up-scale processes may
be regarded as stable vis-à-vis down-scale
processes. Examples (1) The Pacific plate is
moving north relative to the North American
plate at a rate of approximately 5 cm/year. . .
.As a result, Los Angeles, now more than 500 km
south of San Francisco is moving slowly toward
that city. If this motion continues, in about 10
million years San Francisco will be a suburb of
Los Angeles. D. B. Botkin and E. A. Keller
This geomorphological process has had no effect
on the organismic-scaled California real estate
market. Example (2) Canada is increasing in
elevation (rebounding from the weight of
Pleistocene ice) and moving northwest with the
North American plate. An ecologist studying the
population dynamics of snowshoe hare and arctic
fox at the ecological temp. scale may regard the
elevation and latitude / longitude of her study
site as unchanging.
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Boundary conditions at the interface of temporal
scales
Up-scale processes constrain down-scale
processes Example (1) climate constrains
processes at the organismic and ecological
scales(A) plants grow more slowly in (a) colder
(b) dryer climates (B) diversity increases
progressively with warmer / wetter climates from
arctic to tropical latitudes. Example (2)
disturbance regimes at the ecological scale
constrain processes at the organismic scale(A)
seasonal flooding in the Colorado River is
necessary for the reproductive success of the
CR Squawfish (B) periodic fires and herbivory
prevent the growth of woody vegetation on
prairies.
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Boundary conditions at the interface of temporal
scales
Down-scale processes are often constitutive of
up-scale processes Ex (1) weather (diurnal /
seasonal / annual fluctuation of temp
rainfall) constitutes climate. Ex (2) plant
growth and reproduction on the organismic
temporal scale constitutes succession on the
ecological temporal scale.
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Boundary conditions at the interface of temporal
scales
Down-scale constitutive processes are damped down
and averaged out as they cross the border to
constitute up-scale processes Ex (1) the
diurnal, seasonal, and annual vagaries of local
weather are averaged (to annual rainfall and
temperature) as they constitute regional climate.
Pulses of hard rain or lack thereof (drought)bot
h common in US SWand temperature fluctuations
(heat waves / cold snaps) are damped as they
constitute climate. Ex (2) The vagaries of
mortality and replacement of individual trees
constituting an old growth or climax forest are
averaged out and damped down as the border
between the organismic and eco- logical temporal
scale is crossed.
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Boundary conditions at the interface of temporal
scales
Changed rates of constitutive downscale processes
can storm across the border and alter up-scale
processes Ex (1) traditional scattered swidden
agriculture in Amazon rain forest is at a
spatio-temporal scale comparable to individual
tree mortality and replacement wholesale
clearing for cattle pasture threatens to alter
regional climate. Reduced forest covergtreduced
transpirationgtreduced atmospheric
moisturegtreduced annual rainfall regional
climate change. Ex (2) fire suppression and
livestock grazing (changes in disturbance regimes
at lower end of ecological temporal scale) in US
Southwest flipped region from grassland to
scrub (at higher, successional end of the
ecological temporal scale).
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
Homo sapiens sapiens speciated on the
evolutionary temporal scale. Hss evolved
euculture (C. Lumsdon and E. O. Wilson) on the
same scale, while some other species may have
evolved (at best) protoculture. Hss and human
culture are, thus, both natural, having evolved
by Darwinian processes (chance variation
natural selection).
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
Man receives and transmits . . . not one but
two heredities, and is involved in two
evolutions, the biological and the
cultural.T. Dobzhansky Information
transmission is the means of both.
Biologicalgenetic information en- coded in
chromosomes culturalmemetic information
encoded in symbols and signs. Euculture
(sensu Lumsden and Wilson), uniquely among human
beings, having once evolved, took over the task
of subsequent adaptation to various habitats.
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
But cultural evolution is Lamarckianpro- ceedin
g by the transmission of acquired
charac- teristics to future generationsnot
Darwinian. And the temporal scale of Lamarckian
cultural evolution is many times faster than
Darwinian biological evolution. Plus it is
currently accelerating. Use of atlatl spear
common _at_ 25-30 K BP bow arrow _at_ 15- 20 K BP
cross bow 4th century BCE in China, 10-11th
century AD in Europe firearms used in Europe in
14th century breech-load rifle mid-19th century
automatic firearms mid-20th century.
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
Temporal scale of cultural evolution _at_
1 yr - 10 thousand yrs Temporal scale of
biological evolution _at_ 10 thousand -
10 million yrs
10-20K yrs
1C - 1K yrs
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
Human activity becomes unnatural when it
involves technology.Paul Angermeier On the
face of it, a variation of essentialism
technology another word for tool-use. Human
activities that exceed our genetically
evolvedas opposed to culturally
evolved abilities are unnatural.PA But why?
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
Humans are cultural as well as biological
animals. For conservation, the most important
outgrowth of culture is technology, with which we
transform nature . . . . Because technological
and more generally cultural evolution is much
more rapid than genetic evolution, we transform
ecosystems faster than other biota can
adapt.PA The natural / unnatural paradox
resolved Human beings are natural because we
evolved as a species, just as any other species,
in accord with Darwinian principles. But we
became unnatural because culture took over the
process of adaptation to the environment and the
temporal scale of Lamarckian cultural evolution
is very rapid in com- parison with the temporal
scale of Darwinian biological evolution. In
effect, Homo sapiens sapiens stepped across a
temporal boundary.
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
Another paradox resolved it seems intuitively
obvious that our distant Homo sapiens sapiens
ancestors were more natural than we. But this
difference cannot be accounted for on
essentialist grounds as the species HSS they
were equally created in the image of God,
rational, language-using, tool-using
(technological) . . . . Early HSS culture
evolved more slowly than modern and
contem- porary culture. The high end of the
temporal scale of cultural evolu- tion is
sufficiently in phase with the low end of the
temporal scale of biological evolution for the
former not to storm across the border and disrupt
the latter.
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The natural temporal boundary between humanity
and nature
May explain why African relatives of American
Pleistocene mega- fauna not also extinct Had
time to adapt (biologically) to human cultural
adaptations.
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Implications for conservation biology,
environmental ethics, and environmental justice
Conservation biology the vital distinctions
between natural un- natural disturbance/change
and between native exotic spp rescued w/out
resort to metaphysical and quasi-metaphysical
essences. Environmental ethics the
spatio-temporal scale of human changes imposed on
nature can replace the old Leopoldian norm of
integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
community. A thing is right when it tends to
disturb ecosystems at fitting spatio-temporal
scales. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.
Environmental justice While we may celebrate
contemporary peoples living by means of older,
less rapidly evolving technologies as more
natural, we must ask if they have a choice in the
matter.
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