Philosophy of Environment and Technology
Current Projects
If you are working on anything similar, drop me a line! I love to collaborate.
01
Book Project: The Hopes of Rewilding
More than a kind of ecological restoration, Rewilding has become a prominent ethos in global conservation. This book explores the story of Rewilding's popularization, from fringe activism, to fringe science, to one of the most influential—and most vague—concepts in environmentalism.
For many, the word inspires hope. So, what are people hoping for in a Rewilded world? Or in a Rewilded Life? This book argues that the most promising aspect of Rewilding lies in centering visions of a Good Life found in new ecological relationships. More than a new ecological science, rewilding promises a more complete ecological ethic.
02
Albert Borgmann - Understanding our Environment in a Technological Age
I studied closely with Albert Borgmann for two years (2015-2017), where I served as curator of all his manuscripts and correspondence for the University of Montana's library archives. His theories of technology, of ethics, of environment, and of the purpose and limits of philosophy have immense value for many fields. I love any chance to bring Borgmann's work into conversation with new issues, new topics, new disciplines. If you're working on him, or just curious, drop me a line.
03
Benton MacKaye:
Wilderness as Architecture
Aside from more typical philosophy, I specialize in teaching the history and philosophy of early conservation in North America. Benton MacKaye, the eldest and quietly the most philosophically influential founding members of The Wilderness Society, has been nearly forgotten beneath the names Muir, Pinchot, and his personal friends Marshall and Leopold. Yet MacKaye's pragmatic environmental philosophy was, I argue, more relevant to today's environmental issues than any of his contemporaries.
My exploration begins with one overlooked historical detail: MacKaye's 1921 proposal for the Appalachian Trail was published, not in a forestry or parks periodical, but by the American Institute of Architects.
This is no coincidence. MacKaye unflinchingly understood the pursuit of wilderness as an Architectural Project. The project was to shape our environment to foster better lives and better relationships with the non-human world. I ask, what if environmentalism today took up this task, understanding environmentalism as the architectural project of building the setting and structure for better lives.