The Wild and the Wicked: On Nature and Human Nature

329 Pages·2016·5.409 MB·English

by  Benjamin Hale

THE
WI LD
AND
WICKED
THE

Benjamin Hale
THE
WI LD
AND
WICKED
THE
On Nature
and Human Nature
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including
photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval)
without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book was set in Heron Sans and Century Schoolbook Pro by
Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed on recycled paper
and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hale, Benjamin, 1972- author.
Title: The wild and the wicked : on nature and human nature /
Benjamin Hale.
Description: Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2016] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016018207 | ISBN 9780262035408
(hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Environmentalism–Philosophy. | Philosophy of
nature. | Nature–Effect of human beings on.
Classification: LCC GE195 .H34 2016 | DDC 304.2–dc23 LC
record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018207
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
Act I 19
1 Return to the Paleocene 21
2 The Precious Vase 47
3 Rustling in the Bushes 71
4 The Wild and the Wicked 97
Act II 121
5 Control Freak 123
6 Dr. Feelgood and Mr. Fix-It Go to the Picture Show 149
7 The Voter’s Conundrum 175
Act III 203
8 The Axes of Evildoers 205
9 The Green’s Gambit 233
10 The Good Green Life 263
Postscript: The Right Thing for the Right Reason 287
Notes 295
Index 309

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is very much an experiment, an attempt to integrate the
complicated technical analysis of contemporary philosophy into a
manuscript that is accessible to an educated, but perhaps not philo-
sophically informed, readership. The problem is that to merge the
abstract, disinterested, and careful reflection of philosophy with the
snarly, politicized, and convoluted practical considerations of our
environmental quagmire has meant making more than a few sacri-
fices in technical specificity, taking quite a few risks with style and
voice, and entertaining scenarios that otherwise don’t jive with
well-accepted political commitments. It has also meant suffering
the slings and arrows of a referee process that is more geared
toward academic precision than readability. Frankly, it has been
more rigorous and demanding than any I’ve experienced with other
publications.
There are many, no doubt, who will take great umbrage with
what I’ve written here. Indeed, readers and referees of this manu-
script have been of two minds: either they love it or they hate it.
Some referees have taken me to the mats over the looseness of
my argument. Others have criticized the glibness of my prose. Still
others have bludgeoned me because they sense that the views
I discuss here are politically dangerous, giving too much credence
to the other side. It’s easy to pick nits. For this, then, I should
acknowledge my referees and my critics, but not in a “thank you”
kind of way.
Though I have my detractors, I also have my supporters, and it
is this unbelievable collection of friends and family that has kept
me going through what has been one of the most trying publication
efforts of my life. All of the people I have encountered and crossed
paths with over the past several decades of environmental activism
have influenced me immensely, and I owe each of them a shout-out
for their support and effort in trying to make the world a better
place. I mention them briefly in this book: Schwibby, Mookie, Oys-
ter, Badger, Turtle, Dirt, Mad Dog, and others. Mad props to you all
for your work to improve the planet.
The many who read and provided comments on early and later
versions of this manuscript deserve attention as well: Roger
Fortuna, Henry Pickford, Chad Kautzer, Simon Sparks, Allen
Thompson, Ken Shockley, Elissa Guralnick, Brian Calvert, and
actually quite a few others have been invaluable critics and
supportive friends.
I should also thank some of my extremely close friends
and professional colleagues. My dear friend and mentor, Andrew
Light, provided for me immeasurable support and encouragement
throughout this project. I’ve learned a great deal from him about
environmental ethics, academic politics, and climate policy. I also
owe him a great debt, as I think we all do, for his tireless work help-
ing to craft a viable international climate agreement. My Bizarro
doppelgänger, Alastair Norcross, through his interminable ribbing,
has galvanized for me my conviction that consequentialism cannot
do the work that many believe it capable of. I suppose more than
anyone, he’s my imaginary interlocutor here. After all these years,
I have no hope of convincing him, but I’m pretty sure he’s never
hoped to convince me either. I should also thank another close
friend and colleague, Roger Pielke Jr., who has helped me see much
more clearly how foggy and confusing climate policy and climate
politics can be. He’s been encouraging and helpful along this whole
journey. We’ve shared many beers together, and I’ve always found
him to be a constructive and encouraging critic.
As I’ve slowly banged away at drafts of this manuscript, the
team at the MIT Press has been incredibly supportive and under-
standing. Beth Clevenger is wise beyond her years. Her profession-
alism and enthusiasm made the submission and production process
much less painful than it could have been.
But no acknowledgments section would be complete without
attending to those who have attended to me in the kindest,
most important ways. My mother, Amy Hale, for teaching me to
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS