Eric Katz, “The Big Lie:  The Human Restoration of Nature”

 

1.      SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS IN ROBERT ELLIOTT, “FAKING NATURE” (AS DISCUSSED BY KATZ)

2.      Examples of restoration

         a.      Restoration of the wolf to Yellowstone National Park

         b.      No net loss of wetlands policy (developers may fill this wetland here if they create or restored degraded wetlands someplace else)

         c.      Restoration of Florida Everglades

3.      “Restoration thesis:” Restoration of natural environment after destruction/damage creates something of equal/full/same value

4.      Katz and Elliott reject restoration thesis: Restoration cannot not restore the same value.

5.      Two reasons to reject idea restoration regains same value:

6.      (1) Practical/technical objection: Restoration is never successful from a technical/practical perspective: You don’t get back the same physical system

                   i.       E.g., Wetlands restoration is often a miserable failure; restored wetlands usually don’t work like the original wetlands

7.      (2) Philosophical/theoretical objection:

         a.      Because we value things (including natural areas) in terms of their origin, history, and genesis

         b.      Restored ecosystems will not have the same value as the original ecosystems as their causal history is different

         c.      They were made by people and not nature

         d.      People do (and should?) value an ecosystem made by nature, more than an identical one made by people

8.      Examples/analogies

         a.      Art forgery: Is not as valuable as original; want an original van Gogh painting or an identical one done by high tech computer?

         b.      Beautiful, delicate object: Valued until discovered it was made from bones of someone killed for that Fasd

 

9.      OVERVIEW OF KATZ

10.    Restoration is a troubling contemporary environmental policy

         a.      Even environmentalists think it is good

         b.      This is mistake

11.    The myth of restoration: Restoration projects claim (but fail) to:

         a.      Repair damage done     

         b.      Heal nature’s wounds and make nature whole again

12.    Instead of making nature whole again, “Restoration is like putting a piece of furniture over a stain in the carpet”

 

13.    TWO THINGS WRONG WITH RESTORATION

         a.      The act of restoration itself is morally troubling and its consequences are morally troubling

14.    One: Act is morally worrisome

         a.      Fulfills the dream of human domination of nature

         b.      Our mastery of nature shown by our ability to restore and repair degraded ecosystems

         c.      Manifests the same technological fix mentality that got us into the environmental predicament in the first place

15.    Two: Results of restoration is not restored nature, but a human created artifact

         a.      Restoration results in an artifact, not a natural object

         b.      A restored nature is an anthropocentrically (human-centered) designed human artifact

 

16.    QUESTIONS/WORRIES:

17.    Is a restored ecosystem an artifact?

18.    What is an artifact?

19.    According to Katz, an artifact is something with an intrinsic function

         a.      Its function is definitive of what it is

         b.      Perhaps because it was intentionally designed to serve some purpose

         c.      E.g., Tables, chairs, computers, cars

20.    So do restored ecosystems have intrinsic functions (and hence are they artifacts)?

         a.      They were intentionally arranged/designed by humans to serve certain purposes

         b.      Is there function definitive of what they are?

21.    Does the fact that something was designed for a purpose by humans make it an artifact?

         a.      Not clear in the case of human children (seems strange to call them artifacts)

                   i.       What about cloned or enhanced human children?

         b.      Nor so clear in the case of selectively bred animals

                   i.       Are cows artifacts?

22.    Calling a cow or a restored ecosystem an artifact is both illuminating and distorting

23.    Must artifacts be “anthropocentric” (=human centered, aimed at benefitting humans) as Katz claims? Reasons to think not:

         a.      Possible nonhuman artifacts (e.g., beaver dams, bird nests)

                   i.       This possibility casts doubt on Katz’s claim that all artifacts are anthropocentric (serve human purposes)  

         b.      But even human created artifacts need not be thought of as designed solely for human purposes

                   i.       If a person builds a bird house or restores an ecosystem, though this is purposeful human behavior, the intentions might include benefitting nature for its own sake (and not just benefitting humans)

24.    Possible human artifacts that were not intentionally designed

         a.      Trash pile on the side of the road?

         b.      Global warming???

 

25.    KATZ ON THE MEANING OF NATURAL

26.    Natural = independent of activity of humanity (1st definition to be refined)

27.    Two objections:

28.    Objection one: Nothing natural left

         a.      Human impact on the planet is so pervasive that there is nothing natural left (given this understanding of “natural”)

29.    Katz’s reply: Naturalness comes in degrees

         a.      Natural objects/processes exist as far as possible away from human manipulation, control, domination, and technology

                   i.       Note: that these words are stronger than “human activity” or “human involvement”

         b.      If naturalness comes in degrees why can’t restored ecosystems be natural to some degree (perhaps to a very high degree in some cases)?

30.    Objection two: Human actions/products are natural

         a.      Since humans are naturally evolved, their actions are natural too

         b.      This is fallacious:         

                   i.       That humans have a property does not mean necessarily that their actions have that same property

                   ii.      Since humans have hearts (are animals), their actions also have hearts (are also animals)? .

31.    Katz’s reply: But this would make all human acts natural and equally so and this is not plausible or helpful

         a.      Need to avoid two extremes:

                   i.       All human acts are natural and equally so

                   ii.      No human acts are natural

         b.      Katz: Some human acts are and some are not natural

32.    Human acts that are natural on Katz’s account are “non-technological”

         a.      Those that don’t “go beyond our biological and evolutionary capacities”

         b.      That is, human acts that don’t involve control and alteration by technological processes

         c.      Example: Natural child birth as opposed to Caesarean section

 

33.    KATZ CONCLUDES THAT WE SHOULD RESTORE DESPITE HIS CRITICISMS

         a.      “Nothing I have said in this essay should be taken as an endorsement of actions that . . . injure areas of the natural environment and leave them in a damaged state. I believe, for example, that Exxon should attempt to clean up and restore the Alaskan waterways and land that was harmed by its corporate negligence. The point of my argument is that we must not misunderstand what we are doing when we attempt to restore... It is a compromise. We are not restoring nature . . . but making the best of a bad situation and cleaning up our mess” (end of article)

34.    Worries

         a.      But it is not clear he is entitled to say this given his arguments

         b.      If restorations create artifacts, then restoring nature would destroy nature by artifactualize it

         c.      Perhaps Katz would argue that human-caused damage to nature has already created an artifact

                   i.       But then restoration would further artifactualize ecosystems on his account

         d.      So though Katz can accept restoration for anthropocentric (human-centered) reasons (it is better for us to have a cleaned up artifactual ecosystem), he would seem unable to accept restoration for nature’s own sake


Questions of Katz’s The Big Lie

1.      What is “the restoration thesis?”

2.      What is the philosophical (not the practical/technical) reason for rejecting it? How does the analogy with art support this reason?

3.      What are the two types of reason Katz gives for opposing restoration? (Hint: They have to do with the act of restoration and the result of restoration.)

4.      Define the notion of an “artifact” the way Katz defines it. Is Katz’s account of artifacts a good one?

5.      Are there human artifacts that were not intentionally designed? Are all things intentionally designed by a human properly conceived as artifacts?

6.      What does it mean to claim artifacts are “anthropocentric?” Must all artifacts be anthropocentric? Why or why not?

7.      What does Katz mean by “natural?” What are the two objections to the concept of the natural Katz considers and what is his response to those objections?

8.      Give examples of different degrees of naturalness.

9.      What does Katz think about the claim that all human activities are natural? Does he think any human activities are natural? If so, which ones?

10.    How does Katz relate the natural and the technological?

11.    Would Katz favor restoring the South Carolina coast if proposed future oil development off the coast devastated our coastal communities as a result of an oil “spill” disaster?