Preservationism 289 of the Idea

Preservationism

289 of The Idea of Wilderness, Max Oelschlaeger presents an abbreviated outline of the preservationist philosophy and practice. Preservationism stands nearly diametrically opposed to the resource-based theory underlying current environmental policy and legislation. The resourcist picks nature apart in order to harvest its components for economic gain; the preservationist on the other hand, honors the integrity of the whole as well as the inherent value of its parts. Thus, the preservationist views wilderness not as a collection of resources to be harvested for cash but as an ecosystem with nearly sacred wholeness and integrity. The difference between resourcism and preservationism parallels the rift between Modernism and holism.

In table 5 on p. 289, Oelschlaeger lists five main features of preservationism. First, preservationism proposes a "self-creating" ecosystem that should be viewed in terms of "evolutionary wholes with synergetic characteristics that preclude complete reduction and analysis." The idea of self-creation stems from philosophers like Whitehead, who draws attention to the "creative advance of nature into novelty," (p. 290). In other words, nature evolves continually and creatively. Moreover, the creative evolution of nature evolves toward greater order and stability. Prigogine described self-creation as the "emergence of order out of chaos," (p. 290). Oelschlaeger also claims that natural evolution denotes a "purposeless purpose," (p. 290). Increasing order emerges out of chaos, but not because of some "extrasystemic purpose" such as a religious viewpoint would propose (p. 290). The "synergetic characteristics" cannot be reduced in a mechanistic framework; they "preclude complete reduction and analysis" because the ecosystem must be viewed not as a collection of independent parts, but as a cohesive whole whose parts work in tandem and synergetically like cells in an organism. Furthermore, the preservationist denies the possibility of reversible action and instead sees continuality and irreversibility.

The second essential element of preservationism refers to "coordinating interfaces in natural hierarchies where all elements are internally related." The parts organize themselves into "coordinating interfaces in natural hierarchies." Coordination refers to the synergetic characteristics of the ecosystem. As interfaces, the parts interact and face each other continually throughout the process of evolution. Finally, the natural hierarchies refer to the order that emerges out of chaos. The author claims that ecosystems evolve into increased levels of "integrity and stability," (p. 291). Less novelty emerges because existing structures have achieved optimal stability.

Third, "homo sapiens is related internally to the environment." Human beings are not external to, let alone in command of, the ecosystem. The reductionist and the resourcist prefers to view humans as being externally related to the environment because a position of detachment enables scientific analysis and the economically-motivated harvesting of parts. However, the preservationist views human beings as only one piece in the puzzle: the value of a person is not necessarily greater than the value of any other organism because homo sapiens remains intergral to the whole ecosystem. The preservationist does not seek to harvest parts for financial gain and questions what Oelschlaeger calls "speciesism."