IN WILDERNESS IS THE PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD——On Thoreau's Environmental Consciousness

AbstractHenry David Thoreau (l8l7--l862) is the l9,h century AInericantranscendetulist writer and preservation thinker. His understanding of nature isunprecedented in American literature. He spent most of his lifetime observingnature and wrote many works on nature and man-nature relationship. The ideas inthese works went beyond his age and were thus ignored by his cofltemporaries.With the coming of the global envirormental crisis and the thus rising of theenvironmentaI movement, Thoreau was rediscovered. More and more people find aspiritual home fOr the harmonious relation between man and nature in his writings.Thoreau's ideas on nature have becozne an important source of the radicalen\'ironmentalism. He even became a "patron saint" for the environmentaImovement. TherefOre, to have a good understanding of his works, it is necessary forus to analyze his ideas on nature in his works.There are three parts in this thesis. The first part mainly discusses someimportant factors, such as the geographica1 and cultural contexts, which p1ayed avery important role in the formation of 'fhoreau's ideas. Concord is one of them.It's a small town with rivers, lakes, and woodlands. It is also faInous for theAruerican "Transcendentalism". Here we can find both the industrial civilizationand the Arcadian lifestyle. Thoreau was influenced by Emerson and histranscendenta1 ideas. In the course of putting Emersonian principles into practice,he began to form his own ideas on nature. He went to live at WaIden Pond for overtwo years. It was during the over two years' intimate communion with nature thathe found his Iifelong vocation f sauntering and studying nature.Part TWo seeks to analyze Thoreau's ideas on nature in his works from thIeeinterrelated aspects. ln Thoreau's eyes, a1l natural entities were joined together in asingle Anmated whole. When he saw the nature's harmony was destroyed by socialprogress, he exclaimed, "I wish to Anow an entire heaven and an entire earth." Inhis intimate comrnunion wth nature, he sensed nature's vitality, thinking that allnature is alive. Thus, he said, 揟he earth I tread on is not a dead, inert mass. It is a body, has a spirit, is organic, and fluid to the influence of its spirit.?Thoreau was once very interested in science, but gradually became disappointed at the scientific approach of his time. He thought that the scientific community appeared to lay more emphasis on detachment and objectivity and as a result became 損artial and cruel? Scientific approach separated man and nature. The purpose of knowing nature was to make good use of it, to which Thoreau was strongly opposed.Part Three chiefly discusses the significance of Thoreau抯 ideas on nature in our time. Thoreau was considered the father of nature writing. Following him, there appeared a great many influential nature writings. Here the two nature writers Krutch and Abbey are introduced, who were strongly influenced by Thoreau. Thoreau抯 ideas also influenced directly or indirectly Muir, Leopold and Deep Ecology. Greatly inspired by Thoreau, Muir began to experience nature when he was young, and thus obtained what Thoreau conveyed in his writings on nature. Because of the quickening development of industry, Muir had to take some actions to protect nature. He, with some other nature lovers, founded 揝ierra Club? They contributed a lot to the making of various Acts concerning the preservation of nature and to establishing national parks. Leopold advanced the famous 搇and ethic? discussing these ideas from moral perspective. Deep Ecology developed all their ideas into an influential environmental movement. Thoreau抯 civil disobedience became a major tool for some world-famous environmental organizations, such as 揋reenpeace?...