The Nature of Authority in Nature
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Authors
Cleary, Sean
Advisor
Elvira Roncalli
Editor
Date of Issue
2017-12-11
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Citation
Series/Report No.
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Title
The Nature of Authority in Nature
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Type
Paper
Description
Abstract
Everything from the clothes we wear to the food we eat is related to the natural world around us. Why do we Montana residents where a fluffy jacket while walking to class in the middle of December? What makes us decide on athletic shorts in July? Although these questions offer a simple response: Montana winters are colder than a Tibetan tin toilet top and Montana summers are hotter than hells pepper patch, they indicate that the natural world influences the way we act on a daily basis. We certainly have the freedom to rock a bikini in the freezing cold and a wool coat in the summer's heat, but nature (in extremely persuasive fashion) cautions us not to. A similar concept can be applied to what we eat, do people in the American Midwest simply have an unparalleled desire to eat an abundance of corn? Do residents of New England just love the taste of lobster more than those who reside in Arizona? For some, this may be the case, however if we examine these trends on a population level it becomes clear that we eat what is available to us. Again, nature surely grants us Montanans the freedom to attempt to produce and eat pineapple year round, however it imposes conditional parameters that limit us to play by its rules. Nature, by way of its processes and conditions, grips society with pure authority, and as stewards of our world we have a moral obligation to maintain a healthy symbiotic relationship with earth and its inhabitants.
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Degree Awarded
Semester
Fall
Department
Philosophy