Nathan Wood

A number of authors have made a comparison between the abolition of slavery and action to combat climate change. Most authors, however, make similar claims, suggesting that progress on climate change will require a transformation in moral perception. Although this is an important lesson, we will argue that it is not the most interesting or important lesson. Ultimately, we end with a cautiously optimistic conclusion, suggesting that we may be closer than we think to significant action on climate change. Less optimistically, however, the evidence suggests that any solution is likely to involve unpalatable compromise and/or unpalatable confrontation.

Rachel Carson begins her revolutionary book Silent Spring with a quote from E.B. White that reads ‘we would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively’. While White's advice can account for an instrumental relationship towards nature, I believe that the more important relationship offered in his recommendation is one of appreciation or gratitude. But how are we to understand gratitude as appreciating Nature non-instrumentally when it has traditionally always been understood as a response to a benefit received? My motivation is to modify our traditional conception of gratitude alongside Simon Hailwood's account of the ‘Otherness of Nature’ to see how we can truly show gratitude for Nature rather than simply reflecting on how Nature serves human interests.