Philosophical Aspects of the Environment
— Foss, Environment and Colorado 1973

"Philosophical Aspects of the Environment, Foss, Phillip O., ed., Environment and Colorado: a Handbook, 41-46. Fort Collins, Colo.: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1973. Online at: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/41107

Ecosystem science is being often offered as an ultimate science that synthesizes even the arts and the humanities. Like the laws of personal health, the laws of ecosystemic health may be obeyed or broken, only to be reckoned with at length. The ecosciences are underscoring the continuities so as to humble the pride of the muscular West. Kept in its environmental context, our humanity is not absolutely "in" us, but is rather "in" our world dialogue. Humans may and must moderate or mind their world, yet the more competently and effectively they manipulate, the more urgently they must respect the worth of their Earth. Any human dominion ought to be a commonwealth that provides for the integrity of all its component members, with humans governing with care and love. Also published in Philosophy Gone Wild.