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2GW Leibniz, New Essays on Human Understanding Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 17 (6): 424-427. 1997.
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49Thinking through Botanic GardensEnvironmental Values 15 (2). 2006.This essay discusses ways of thinking about botanic gardens that pay close attention to their particularity as designed spaces, dependent on technique, that nonetheless purport to present (and preserve) natural entities (plants). I introduce an account of what gardens are, how botanic gardens differ from other gardens, and how this particular form of garden arose in history. After this I contrast three ways of understanding the function of botanic gardens in the present time: as sites of recreat…Read more
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54The Case for Environmental MoralityEnvironmental Ethics 25 (1): 5-24. 2003.Present environmental degradation has led some to argue that only an appeal to selfishness will “save the environment,” allegedly because appeals to “morality” necessarily are ineffective, while others have suggested that we need a “new, environmental ethic.” If we are interested in countering the degradation of the natural environment, we need to reconsider actual morality, how it is developed, and how it may take into account human activities affecting the natural world. Ultimately, we need to…Read more
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29Nature, Culture, and Natural Heritage: Toward a Culture of NatureEnvironmental Ethics 27 (4): 339-354. 2005.Nature and culture are usually treated as opposites. Nature, on this conception, is on the wane as a result of culture. A fresh analysis of the relation between these two terms in the light of the notion of “cultural landscapes” is needed. This account allows for nature to be understood as an important, distinctive category, even while granting the constitutive role of the culturally structured gaze. Culture and nature need not be conceived in opposition to each other, for it makes sense to spea…Read more
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23Culture and Climate ChangeProceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 23 45-52. 2008.Physical science is coming to an increasingly clear understanding of natural environmental changes, their causes and their effects on the landscape. Human beings have lived through significant climate variability in historical periods, and through repeated periods of relatively sudden climate change, as well asmultiple other drastic natural events in prehistory. In this paper I propose that we should take into account the cultural dimension when considering adaptation to drastic natural events, …Read more
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17Symbolically Laden Sites in the Landscape and Climate ChangeEthics, Policy and Environment 17 (3): 355-369. 2014.Attention is drawn to the threat posed by climate change to symbolically laden places, landscapes and landmarks, and suggested that, insofar as some of those sites are treated as sacred by certain populations, their disturbance may be especially problematic. Special consideration is given to the significance glacial retreat for local, nearby populations, and its importance from the point of view of climate justice and ethics is discussed. The potential value of iconic sites from the perspective …Read more
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205Rock art aesthetics: Trace on rock, mark of spirit, window on landJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 57 (4): 451-458. 1999.
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15Minding Nature: The Philosophers of Ecology David MacAuley New York: Guilford, 1996, viii + 355 pp., $18.95 (review)Dialogue 38 (1): 168-. 1999.
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106Understanding performance art: Art beyond artBritish Journal of Aesthetics 31 (1): 68-73. 1991.
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315Basho and the aesthetics of wandering: Recuperating space, recognizing place, and following the ways of the universePhilosophy East and West 53 (3): 291-307. 2003.: An appeal is made to the foot travels of Matsuo Basho, especially his 1689 journey to northern Japan, reflected in his Narrow Road to the Interior, as examples of wandering. It is suggested that while the travels of a poetwanderer such as Basho are notably distinct from shamanic travels in some respects, they are similar in other important ways, for example in their capacity to give perspective to our everyday experience. Based on Basho's example, three aspects of wandering are discussed that …Read more
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37Themes in Latin American Environmental Ethics: Community, Resistance and AutonomyEnvironmental Values 13 (2). 2004.This paper seeks to answer the question how environmental ethics is approached in Latin America. I begin by discussing a suitable method for interpreting the question of whether there is a culturally based ethics, given that one may focus either on theory or on actually existing moral practices. Next, I consider some of the possible sources of Latin America's distinctiveness, namely its professional, cultural, and economic-historical particularities, followed by a discussion of the practice and …Read more
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109Aesthetic appreciation and the many stories about natureBritish Journal of Aesthetics 41 (2): 125-137. 2001.
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4Naturaleza, cultura, y patrimonio natural: hacia una cultura de la naturalezaLudus Vitalis 14 (25): 135-151. 2006.
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3La restauración de la naturaleza en relación a las obras de la tierra (earthworks) y el arte de los jardines japonesesEstudios Filosóficos 53 (152): 77-86. 2004.Parece contradictorio que los seres humanos intentemos restaurar la naturaleza, ya que el término "naturaleza" parece significar la antítesis de lo creado por nosotros. En este ensayo propongo elucidar la problemática de la restauración de la naturaleza a base de la consideración de los jardines japoneses formales y de las obras de la tierra (earthworks), en cuanto que ambas formas de arte constituyen formas de aculturar la tierra de tal manera que la relación del artefacto entra en relación dir…Read more
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1Gregory J. Cooper, The Science of the Struggle for Existence Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 24 (6): 398-400. 2004.
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15The Real and the Hyperreal: Dance and SimulacraThe Journal of Aesthetic Education 34 (2): 15. 2000.
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A Reassessment of Locke's Theory of Cognition of the External WorldDissertation, The University of Western Ontario (Canada). 1993.Locke's Essay concerning Human Understanding has generally been read as primarily concerned with epistemology. In particular, it has been claimed that the Essay attempts to defeat epistemological skepticism, but fails in this enterprise because of the veiling character of Locke's ideas. By way of reexamination of the texts in question I show that epistemological skepticism is not the topic of the Essay, and that there is not sufficient reason to claim that Locke's account of knowledge leads to e…Read more
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12Some remarks on science, method and nationalism in John LockeHistory of European Ideas 16 (1-3): 97-102. 1993.
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20Reflections on reclamation through artEthics, Place and Environment 10 (3). 2007.Industrial interventions in the landscape leave their imprint in a permanent way, but there remain options on how to deal with land even at that point in time. In this essay, three alternatives are considered: leaving such sites as they are, restoring them to a condition resembling their original state, or transforming them into artworks. The author focuses in particular on the third option in order to determine to what degree it is possible for artistic reclamation to redeem such blights in the…Read more
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14Natural Beauty: A Theory of Aesthetics Beyond the Arts: Book Reviews (review)British Journal of Aesthetics 48 (4): 465-467. 2008.
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6Bashô y la estética del caminar: por la recuperación del espacio, el reconocimiento de los lugares y el seguimienmto del universoContrastes: Revista Internacional de Filosofía 9 135-154. 2004.
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18The Intemperate Rainforest: Nature, Culture, and Power on Canada’s West CoastEnvironmental Ethics 26 (2): 205-208. 2004.
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University of VictoriaDepartment of Philosophy
School of Environmental StudiesAdjunct Professor In School of Environmental Studies, Associate Fellow At Centre for Global Studies -
Universidad de La LagunaOther (Part-time)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Other Academic Areas |
History of Western Philosophy |
Metaphysics and Epistemology |