Natures Call On the Separation of Nature and Culture
The distinction between nature and culture, as well as that of the primitive and the civilized, is defined by their relationship with one another. Such is the case since the former is understood within the context of the latter. In the case of the distinction between nature and culture, nature is perceived to represent the primitive life whereas culture is perceived to represent the civilized life. These representations carry the weight of specific connotations to each concept, an example of which can be seen in the derogatory conception of both nature and the primitive life. Nature, in this sense, is equated with the primitive life as the former is conceived as the representation of the location wherein man led a life outside of society and hence was devoid of the social aspects that allowed him to flourish due to the non-existence of conditions that would have allowed him to commune with his fellow men.
In line with this, the following discussion focuses on the different conceptions of the relationship between nature and culture as well as that of the primitive and the civilized as they are presented in Henry David Thoreaus Walden, William Cronons The Trouble with Wilderness, and Frederick Turners The Significance of the Frontier in American History. The significance of these texts may be attributed to their analysis of the relationship between nature and culture in relation to economic development as well as within the context of American history. By doing so, they were able to raise the correlation of nature and freedom.
Although it is indeed the case that primitive life in human history is characterized by mans relationship with the natural world as opposed to mans relationship with his fellow men, there are certain aspects of the primitive life which are worthy of consideration. For the sake of clarity, the primitive life here refers to a life defined by a complex of feeling that resists definition in either the religious or the moral terms which (is) most closely akin in our civilization (Bell 11). As opposed to this, the civilized life refers to a life defined by the social and cultural aspects that enable civilization (Bell 1). The noteworthy aspect of primitive life may be traced to its emphasis on mans relationship with nature. To a certain extent one may state that the noteworthy aspect of primitive life lies in its ability to resituate mans existence with the natural order of things. It is thereby a life defined by the conditions before the existence of society, a life wherein man possessed absolute freedom.
Within this context, one may state that the distinction between the primitive and the civilized as well as the distinction between nature and culture may be understood within the context of freedom. Such is the case since the former provides conditions of absolute freedom whereas the later provides conditions of limited freedom. Freedom here ought to be understood as the absence of opposition (by opposition, I mean external impediments of motion) (Hobbes 136). A free man, in this sense, refers to he that in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do is not hindered to do what he has a will to (Hobbes 136). Such a conception of freedom provides a negative definition of the term as it specifies the conditions that would prevent the existence of freedom as opposed to presenting the conditions that would enable the existence of freedom.
In line with this, it may be argued that the reason behind the negative connotation of both nature and the primitive life lies in societys desire to maintain conditions of limited freedom. In addition to this, it may also be argued that mans continuous yearning for nature and the primitive life lies in its promise of attaining absolute freedom. However, despite the appeal of nature and the primitive life, man is unable to resituate himself within the context of the primitive life during the instances when he desires to do so. An example of this is evident in Henry David Thoreaus Walden. In the text, Thoreau narrates the reasons that led him to his retreat to Walden Pond as well as his experiences during the period. The reasons he specified may be delineated into two (1) His desire to live a primitive and frontier life and (2) His desire to attain a spiritual view of things (Thoreau 54-363). The initial reason is contextualized within his criticism of the economics of current American life. He describes this life as a life that revolves around mans acquisition of necessities (Thoreau 47-48). He states, But men labor under a mistake. The better part of the man is soon ploughed into the soil for compost. By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed It is a fools life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before (Thoreau 47-48).
Thoreau defines necessities as the basic aspects important to human life which includes Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel (Thoreau 54). His view regarding the fools life may be ascribed to his negative perception of the effects of cultural development on man. He states, For the improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of mans existence as our skeletons, probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors (Thoreau 54). Thoreau, in this sense, perceives the development of human civilization to be detrimental to mans existence. This does not necessarily entail that Thoreau desires mankind to live an entirely primitive life. As opposed to this, Thoreau argues that it is necessary for man to enable the unification between the primitive and the civilized aspects of mans existence. This is apparent as he claims, It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them (Thoreau 54). Thoreau thereby perceives the experience of the primitive life as a necessary aspect for mans realization of his misallocation of priorities in life.
In line with the initial reason for his desire for a primitive life is his belief that such a life will enable an individual to regain his spirituality. He claims that a primitive life would allow him to discover his essential self in natures self, an entity that is free, autonomous, and symbolic of an infinite spiritual identity (Thoreau 14-24). In the later part of the text, Thoreau further claims that this journey to his spiritual self has allowed him to experience a return to goodnessin respect to the love of virtue and the hatred of vice (363).
Given the abovementioned reasons for Thoreaus desire to experience a primitive life, one may state that his correlation of nature and spirituality along with freedom and autonomy manifest an example in which he desires to be freed from the limited freedom within the bounds of society. It is important to note that his view is based on his initial claim that supports such a belief. Such a belief however changed as he realized his inability to fully regain his spirituality despite his adherence to the primitive aspects of life. The primary reason for this lies in his submersion in culture before his experience of the primitive life. In other words, his perception of reality has been distorted by the existing beliefs that he has acquired throughout his existence and participation in society.
Other individuals recognize this problem in mans desire to regain his freedom in nature. Frederick Turner, for example, in his discussion of the significance of frontier life in American culture argues that despite the continuous development in American civilization, the desire for further development is continuously aroused by the existence of other frontiers that Americans wish to develop. He claims,
(I)n the case of the United Stateswe have the familiar phenomenon of the evolution of institutions in a limited area But we have in addition to this a recurrence of the process of evolution in each western area reached in the process of expansion. Thus American development has exhibited not merely advance along a single line, but a return to primitive conditions on a continually advancing frontier line, and a new development for that area. American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier. This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character. (Turner 2-3)
This process of development that characterizes American development, according to Turner, manifests the continuous cycle from the primitive to the civilized and vice-versa. The reason for this may be attributed to American cultures continuous desire for expansion in its hopes of changing the primitive forms of life outside American culture.
This desire for the expansion of territory in American history manifests itself, according to Turner, in the peoples fascination with the frontier. He posits that for the American people, the frontier stands as the meeting point between savagery and civilization (Turner 3). At the same time, it also represents the points that require the introduction of civilization. Civilization here, according to Turner, ought to be understood outside the context of European civilization but within the context of American civilization. The frontier and hence the wilderness which follows it thereby stands as a place that must necessarily be influenced by the American civilization in order to ensure the expansion of American territory and in order to quell the influence of the European civilization. Turner states,
At first, the frontier was the Atlantic coast. It was the frontier of Europe in a very real sense. Moving westward, the frontier became more and more American. As successive terminal moraines result from successive glaciations, so each frontier leaves its traces behind it, and when it becomes a settled area the region still partakes of the frontier characteristics. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady movement away from the influence of Europe, a steady growth of independence on American lines. (4)
In line with this, the problem of freedom presented by Turner in his article is apparent if one considers that in the American civilizations desire for the development of the areas in the frontier, it fails to uphold the basic beliefs of the individuals within it. In the process of doing this, not only do these individuals lose their relationship with nature but they also lose their conception of their cultures as they are immersed within the American culture. An example of this is apparent in the case of the Indian frontier. Turner argues that the case of the expansion of the American territory in the Indian frontier involves the Americans adaptation of the Indian life in order to initially survive the land (4). This however led to the submersion of the Indian life within the life of its colonizer which later led to the eradication of the Indian culture. He states, At the frontier the environment is at first too strong for the man. He must accept the conditions which it furnishes, or perish, and so he fits himself into the Indian clearings and follows the Indian trails. Little by little he transforms the wilderness (Turner 4). The American culture, in this sense, as it is explicitly presented in both Thoreau and Waldens text fails to uphold mans spirituality and hence mans recognition of the possibility of absolute autonomy as it enables the proliferation of a culture that merely seeks continuous expansion and does not consider the preservation of the land.
This is explicitly presented by William Cronon in The Trouble with Wilderness as he argues that the American cultures fascination with nature and hence wilderness leads to the degradation of wilderness itself. He claims that since the manifestations of this fascination are apparent in mans continuous reformation of nature to the extent that it loses its intrinsic qualities, the amount of wilderness in the world thereby continues to diminish. He claims,
To assert the unnaturalness of so natural a place will no doubt seem absurd or even perverse to many readers, so let me hasten to add that the nonhuman world we encounter in wilderness is far from being merely our own invention. I celebrate with others who love wilderness the beauty and power of the things it contains Remember the feelings of such moments, and you will know as well as I do that you were in the presence of something irreducibly nonhuman, something profoundly Other than yourselfAnd yet what brought each of us to the places where such memories became possible is entirely a cultural invention. (Cronon 8)
As can be seen from Cronons claim, mans continuous alteration of the frontier and D or wilderness leads to man s alteration of himself. Such is the case since during these instances man loses his ties with his primitive and spiritual self. In the same way, man loses his ties with the possibility of absolute freedom. Cronon thereby emphasizes that to alter wilderness leads to the alteration of man himself.
It is important to note however that within the text Cronon also questions the equation of wilderness with the primitive. This is apparent as Cronon argues that to assume that the wilderness retains its natural properties involves the assumption that anything that man touches remains unaltered. He however posits that such a condition is impossible. This is explicitly apparent as he questions Thoreaus claim as he states,
For many Americans wilderness stands as the last remaining place where civilizationhas not fully infected the earth. It is an island in the polluted sea of urban-industrial modernity, the one place we can turn for escape from our own too-muchness. Seen in this way, wilderness presents itself as the best antidote to our human selves, a refuge we must somehow recover if we hope to save the planet. As Henry David Thoreau once famously declared, In Wildness is the preservation of the World. But is it (Cronon 7)
It is apparent in Cronons question itself that he does not think that such is the case. He argues in line with a constructivist argument that assumes that reality is mans creation. The simplest example of this is apparent if one considers that the concepts and meanings associated with the wilderness are mans creations. If such is the case, it follows from this that the wilderness, both the concept and the object to which the concept is attributed, are already molded by mans consciousness as well as by mans physical influence.
Within this context, one may state that mans correlation of the wild with nature and the primitive aspects of life lies in mans desire to retain a certain aspect of reality which he desires to perceive as separate from himself. Such is the case since by doing so he is able to retain a certain conception of the possibility of attaining absolute freedom. This is apparent in Thoreaus text as he perceives nature as the source of mans spirituality. Such a conception however, within the context of both Turner and Cronons text, seems to be nave since it fails to account for the influence of man on his surroundings. As was mentioned in the initial part of the discussion, the concepts nature and culture are defined by their relationship with one another. Such is the case since it is man who determines their difference and their opposition with one another.
In line with this, the following discussion focuses on the different conceptions of the relationship between nature and culture as well as that of the primitive and the civilized as they are presented in Henry David Thoreaus Walden, William Cronons The Trouble with Wilderness, and Frederick Turners The Significance of the Frontier in American History. The significance of these texts may be attributed to their analysis of the relationship between nature and culture in relation to economic development as well as within the context of American history. By doing so, they were able to raise the correlation of nature and freedom.
Although it is indeed the case that primitive life in human history is characterized by mans relationship with the natural world as opposed to mans relationship with his fellow men, there are certain aspects of the primitive life which are worthy of consideration. For the sake of clarity, the primitive life here refers to a life defined by a complex of feeling that resists definition in either the religious or the moral terms which (is) most closely akin in our civilization (Bell 11). As opposed to this, the civilized life refers to a life defined by the social and cultural aspects that enable civilization (Bell 1). The noteworthy aspect of primitive life may be traced to its emphasis on mans relationship with nature. To a certain extent one may state that the noteworthy aspect of primitive life lies in its ability to resituate mans existence with the natural order of things. It is thereby a life defined by the conditions before the existence of society, a life wherein man possessed absolute freedom.
Within this context, one may state that the distinction between the primitive and the civilized as well as the distinction between nature and culture may be understood within the context of freedom. Such is the case since the former provides conditions of absolute freedom whereas the later provides conditions of limited freedom. Freedom here ought to be understood as the absence of opposition (by opposition, I mean external impediments of motion) (Hobbes 136). A free man, in this sense, refers to he that in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do is not hindered to do what he has a will to (Hobbes 136). Such a conception of freedom provides a negative definition of the term as it specifies the conditions that would prevent the existence of freedom as opposed to presenting the conditions that would enable the existence of freedom.
In line with this, it may be argued that the reason behind the negative connotation of both nature and the primitive life lies in societys desire to maintain conditions of limited freedom. In addition to this, it may also be argued that mans continuous yearning for nature and the primitive life lies in its promise of attaining absolute freedom. However, despite the appeal of nature and the primitive life, man is unable to resituate himself within the context of the primitive life during the instances when he desires to do so. An example of this is evident in Henry David Thoreaus Walden. In the text, Thoreau narrates the reasons that led him to his retreat to Walden Pond as well as his experiences during the period. The reasons he specified may be delineated into two (1) His desire to live a primitive and frontier life and (2) His desire to attain a spiritual view of things (Thoreau 54-363). The initial reason is contextualized within his criticism of the economics of current American life. He describes this life as a life that revolves around mans acquisition of necessities (Thoreau 47-48). He states, But men labor under a mistake. The better part of the man is soon ploughed into the soil for compost. By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed It is a fools life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before (Thoreau 47-48).
Thoreau defines necessities as the basic aspects important to human life which includes Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel (Thoreau 54). His view regarding the fools life may be ascribed to his negative perception of the effects of cultural development on man. He states, For the improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of mans existence as our skeletons, probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors (Thoreau 54). Thoreau, in this sense, perceives the development of human civilization to be detrimental to mans existence. This does not necessarily entail that Thoreau desires mankind to live an entirely primitive life. As opposed to this, Thoreau argues that it is necessary for man to enable the unification between the primitive and the civilized aspects of mans existence. This is apparent as he claims, It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them (Thoreau 54). Thoreau thereby perceives the experience of the primitive life as a necessary aspect for mans realization of his misallocation of priorities in life.
In line with the initial reason for his desire for a primitive life is his belief that such a life will enable an individual to regain his spirituality. He claims that a primitive life would allow him to discover his essential self in natures self, an entity that is free, autonomous, and symbolic of an infinite spiritual identity (Thoreau 14-24). In the later part of the text, Thoreau further claims that this journey to his spiritual self has allowed him to experience a return to goodnessin respect to the love of virtue and the hatred of vice (363).
Given the abovementioned reasons for Thoreaus desire to experience a primitive life, one may state that his correlation of nature and spirituality along with freedom and autonomy manifest an example in which he desires to be freed from the limited freedom within the bounds of society. It is important to note that his view is based on his initial claim that supports such a belief. Such a belief however changed as he realized his inability to fully regain his spirituality despite his adherence to the primitive aspects of life. The primary reason for this lies in his submersion in culture before his experience of the primitive life. In other words, his perception of reality has been distorted by the existing beliefs that he has acquired throughout his existence and participation in society.
Other individuals recognize this problem in mans desire to regain his freedom in nature. Frederick Turner, for example, in his discussion of the significance of frontier life in American culture argues that despite the continuous development in American civilization, the desire for further development is continuously aroused by the existence of other frontiers that Americans wish to develop. He claims,
(I)n the case of the United Stateswe have the familiar phenomenon of the evolution of institutions in a limited area But we have in addition to this a recurrence of the process of evolution in each western area reached in the process of expansion. Thus American development has exhibited not merely advance along a single line, but a return to primitive conditions on a continually advancing frontier line, and a new development for that area. American social development has been continually beginning over again on the frontier. This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character. (Turner 2-3)
This process of development that characterizes American development, according to Turner, manifests the continuous cycle from the primitive to the civilized and vice-versa. The reason for this may be attributed to American cultures continuous desire for expansion in its hopes of changing the primitive forms of life outside American culture.
This desire for the expansion of territory in American history manifests itself, according to Turner, in the peoples fascination with the frontier. He posits that for the American people, the frontier stands as the meeting point between savagery and civilization (Turner 3). At the same time, it also represents the points that require the introduction of civilization. Civilization here, according to Turner, ought to be understood outside the context of European civilization but within the context of American civilization. The frontier and hence the wilderness which follows it thereby stands as a place that must necessarily be influenced by the American civilization in order to ensure the expansion of American territory and in order to quell the influence of the European civilization. Turner states,
At first, the frontier was the Atlantic coast. It was the frontier of Europe in a very real sense. Moving westward, the frontier became more and more American. As successive terminal moraines result from successive glaciations, so each frontier leaves its traces behind it, and when it becomes a settled area the region still partakes of the frontier characteristics. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady movement away from the influence of Europe, a steady growth of independence on American lines. (4)
In line with this, the problem of freedom presented by Turner in his article is apparent if one considers that in the American civilizations desire for the development of the areas in the frontier, it fails to uphold the basic beliefs of the individuals within it. In the process of doing this, not only do these individuals lose their relationship with nature but they also lose their conception of their cultures as they are immersed within the American culture. An example of this is apparent in the case of the Indian frontier. Turner argues that the case of the expansion of the American territory in the Indian frontier involves the Americans adaptation of the Indian life in order to initially survive the land (4). This however led to the submersion of the Indian life within the life of its colonizer which later led to the eradication of the Indian culture. He states, At the frontier the environment is at first too strong for the man. He must accept the conditions which it furnishes, or perish, and so he fits himself into the Indian clearings and follows the Indian trails. Little by little he transforms the wilderness (Turner 4). The American culture, in this sense, as it is explicitly presented in both Thoreau and Waldens text fails to uphold mans spirituality and hence mans recognition of the possibility of absolute autonomy as it enables the proliferation of a culture that merely seeks continuous expansion and does not consider the preservation of the land.
This is explicitly presented by William Cronon in The Trouble with Wilderness as he argues that the American cultures fascination with nature and hence wilderness leads to the degradation of wilderness itself. He claims that since the manifestations of this fascination are apparent in mans continuous reformation of nature to the extent that it loses its intrinsic qualities, the amount of wilderness in the world thereby continues to diminish. He claims,
To assert the unnaturalness of so natural a place will no doubt seem absurd or even perverse to many readers, so let me hasten to add that the nonhuman world we encounter in wilderness is far from being merely our own invention. I celebrate with others who love wilderness the beauty and power of the things it contains Remember the feelings of such moments, and you will know as well as I do that you were in the presence of something irreducibly nonhuman, something profoundly Other than yourselfAnd yet what brought each of us to the places where such memories became possible is entirely a cultural invention. (Cronon 8)
As can be seen from Cronons claim, mans continuous alteration of the frontier and D or wilderness leads to man s alteration of himself. Such is the case since during these instances man loses his ties with his primitive and spiritual self. In the same way, man loses his ties with the possibility of absolute freedom. Cronon thereby emphasizes that to alter wilderness leads to the alteration of man himself.
It is important to note however that within the text Cronon also questions the equation of wilderness with the primitive. This is apparent as Cronon argues that to assume that the wilderness retains its natural properties involves the assumption that anything that man touches remains unaltered. He however posits that such a condition is impossible. This is explicitly apparent as he questions Thoreaus claim as he states,
For many Americans wilderness stands as the last remaining place where civilizationhas not fully infected the earth. It is an island in the polluted sea of urban-industrial modernity, the one place we can turn for escape from our own too-muchness. Seen in this way, wilderness presents itself as the best antidote to our human selves, a refuge we must somehow recover if we hope to save the planet. As Henry David Thoreau once famously declared, In Wildness is the preservation of the World. But is it (Cronon 7)
It is apparent in Cronons question itself that he does not think that such is the case. He argues in line with a constructivist argument that assumes that reality is mans creation. The simplest example of this is apparent if one considers that the concepts and meanings associated with the wilderness are mans creations. If such is the case, it follows from this that the wilderness, both the concept and the object to which the concept is attributed, are already molded by mans consciousness as well as by mans physical influence.
Within this context, one may state that mans correlation of the wild with nature and the primitive aspects of life lies in mans desire to retain a certain aspect of reality which he desires to perceive as separate from himself. Such is the case since by doing so he is able to retain a certain conception of the possibility of attaining absolute freedom. This is apparent in Thoreaus text as he perceives nature as the source of mans spirituality. Such a conception however, within the context of both Turner and Cronons text, seems to be nave since it fails to account for the influence of man on his surroundings. As was mentioned in the initial part of the discussion, the concepts nature and culture are defined by their relationship with one another. Such is the case since it is man who determines their difference and their opposition with one another.
