Hunting Philosophy for Everyone: In Search of the Wild Life

267 Pages·2010·4.47 MB·English

by  Nathan Kowalsky (ed.)

VOLUME EDITOR
NATHAN KOWALSKY is Assistant Professor of Philosophy,
St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta. He has published essays in
the journals Environmental Ethics and Ethical Perspectives and in the
book The Ranges of Evil: Multidisciplinary Studies in Human Wickedness.
He has also served as a consultant to Environment Canada
(a ministry of the Canadian government).
SERIES EDITOR
FRITZ ALLHOFF is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy
Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a Senior
Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre
for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the
Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor
for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007),
Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and
Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007).
Hunting Philosophy for Everyone: In Search of the Wild Life Edited by Nathan Kowalsky
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-444-33569-9
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PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE
Series editor: Fritz Allhoff
Not so much a subject matter, philosophy is a way of thinking. Thinking not just
about the Big Questions, but about little ones too. This series invites everyone
to ponder things they care about, big or small, significant, serious … or just
curious.
Running & Philosophy: Cannabis – Philosophy for Everyone:
A Marathon for the Mind What Were We Just Talking About?
Edited by Michael W. Austin Edited by Dale Jacquette
Wine & Philosophy: Porn – Philosophy for Everyone:
A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking How to Think With Kink
Edited by Fritz Allhoff Edited by Dave Monroe
Food & Philosophy: Serial Killers – Philosophy for
Eat, Think and Be Merry Everyone: Being and Killing
Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Dave Monroe Edited by S. Waller
Beer & Philosophy: Dating – Philosophy for Everyone:
The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Flirting With Big Ideas
Drinking Edited by Kristie Miller and Marlene Clark
Edited by Steven D. Hales Gardening – Philosophy for Everyone:
Whiskey & Philosophy: Cultivating Wisdom
A Small Batch of Spirited Ideas Edited by Dan O’Brien
Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Marcus P. Adams Motherhood – Philosophy for
College Sex – Philosophy for Everyone: The Birth of Wisdom
Everyone: Philosophers With Benefits Edited by Sheila Lintott
Edited by Michael Bruce Fatherhood – Philosophy for
and Robert M. Stewart Everyone: The Dao of Daddy
Cycling – Philosophy for Everyone: Edited by Lon S. Nease
A Philosophical Tour de Force and Michael W. Austin
Edited by Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza
and Michael W. Austin
Forthcoming books in the series:
Climbing – Philosophy for Everyone: Fashion – Philosophy for Everyone
Because It’s There Edited by Jessica Wolfendale
Edited by Stephen E. Schmid and Jeanette Kennett
Hunting – Philosophy for Everyone: Coffee – Philosophy for Everyone
In Search of the Wild Life Edited by Scott Parker
Edited by Nathan Kowalsky and Michael W. Austin
Christmas – Philosophy for Everyone: Blues – Philosophy for Everyone
Better Than a Lump of Coal Edited by Abrol Fairweather
Edited by Scott C. Lowe and Jesse Steinberg
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Edited by Nathan Kowalsky
HUNTING
PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE
In Search of the Wild Life
Foreword by David Petersen
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
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This edition fi rst published 2010
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd except for editorial material and organization
© 2010 Nathan Kowalsky
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hunting – philosophy for everyone: in search of the wild life / Nathan Kowalsky,
editor.
p. cm. – (Philosophy for everyone)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4443-3569-9 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Hunting – Philosophy.
I. Kowalsky, Nathan.
SK14.H86 2010
179´.3–dc22
2010017112
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Set in 10/12.5pt Plantin by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
Printed in Singapore
01 2010
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To my Grandfather, E. L. “Bud” Kowalsky (1925–2009),
whose many loves included hunting with Dad and me
out there in the wide-open lands of home.
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“To illustrate all this by a similar instance, I shall observe, that
there cannot be two passions more nearly resembling each other
than those of hunting and philosophy, whatever disproportion
may at first sight appear betwixt them.”
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature,
book II, part III, section X
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CONTENTS
Foreword: Hunting as Philosophy Professor xii
David Petersen
Acknowledgments xvi
Nathan Kowalsky
Picking Up the Trail: An Introduction to Hunting – Philosophy
for Everyone 1
Nathan Kowalsky
PART I THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE HUNTER 9
1 Taking a Shot: Hunting in the Crosshairs 11
Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza
2 But They Can’t Shoot Back: What Makes Fair Chase Fair? 23
Theodore R. Vitali
3 A Shot in the Dark: The Dubious Prospects of
Environmental Hunting 33
Lisa Kretz
4 Hunting Like a Vegetarian: Same Ethics, Different Flavors 45
Tovar Cerulli
5 What You Can’t Learn from Cartoons: Or, How to Go
Hunting After Watching Bambi 56
Gregory A. Clark
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PART II THE HUNTER’S VIEW OF THE WORLD 67
6 Hunting for Meaning: A Glimpse of the Game 69
Brian Seitz
7 Getting By with a Little Help from My Hunter: Riding to
Hounds in English Foxhound Packs 80
Alison Acton
8 Tracking in Pursuit of Knowledge: Teachings of an
Algonquin Anishinabe Bush Hunter 93
Jacob Wawatie and Stephanie Pyne
9 Living with Dead Animals? Trophies as Souvenirs of the Hunt 107
Garry Marvin
PART III EATING NATURE NATURALLY 119
10 The Carnivorous Herbivore: Hunting and Culture in Human
Evolution 121
Valerius Geist
11 The Fear of the Lord: Hunting as if the Boss is Watching 134
Janina Duerr
12 Hunting: A Return to Nature? 149
Roger J. H. King
13 The Camera or the Gun: Hunting through Different Lenses 161
Jonathan Parker
14 Flesh, Death, and Tofu: Hunters, Vegetarians,
and Carnal Knowledge 171
T. R. Kover
PART IV THE ANTLER CHANDELIER: Hunting in Culture,
Politics, and Tradition 185
15 The Sacred Pursuit: Reflections on the Literature of Hunting 187
Roger Scruton
16 Big Game and Little Sticks: Bowmaking and Bowhunting 198
Kay Koppedrayer
x CONTENTS
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17 Going to the Dogs: Savage Longings in Hunting Art 210
Paula Young Lee
18 The New Artemis? Women Who Hunt 225
Debra Merskin
19 Off the Grid: Rights, Religion, and the Rise of the Eco-Gentry 239
James Carmine
Notes on Contributors 252
CONTENTS xi
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DAVID PETERSEN
FOREWORD
Hunting as Philosophy Professor
The out-of-doors is our true ancestral estate. For a mere few thousand
years we have grubbed in the soil and laid brick upon brick to build the
cities; but for millions of years before that we lived the leisurely, free, and
adventurous life of hunters and gatherers. How can we pluck that deep
root of feeling from the racial consciousness? Impossible!
Edward Abbey
In my long and shaggy life, I’ve known no better philosophy teacher than
hunting. While non-hunters may initially scoff at the concept of “hunting
as philosophy professor,” the thought-provoking essay collection to f ollow
should broaden and deepen personal insights about life and death, and
the interplay between the two, for all with open minds.
In my case, as one who examines life and death through the eyes of a
self-styled neo-animist, many of the most useful lessons I’ve learned
about the nature of human nature, including especially my own, have
come through the practice, in both the practical and Zen meanings of the
word, of hunting.
As hunters, much is revealed about us by the tools we choose to carry
afield, the strategies we employ to bring game to bag, the ethics we
embrace or ignore in seeking success, how we define hunting “success,”
and how we talk about it all.
Yet, personal ethics aside, it’s entirely logical to ask, as so many non-
hunters do, why anyone hunts today, when it’s no longer necessary for
human physical survival. Put this question to the average hunter and he or
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