Get Snowmobiles Out of Yellowstone Park

Yellowstone

Aristotle and the Cynics Conspire to get Snowmobiles out of Yellowstone National Park

In the scenario whereby individuals are rampaging across the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, willy-nilly upon snowmobiles, the great Greek philosopher Aristotle (presumably after overcoming his initial surprise at the existence of such a mechanized craft) would remind the snowmobile's users of Book VIII, Chapter 3, of his Ethics. A means of use of the park that is amicable and amenable to all, rather than to one subspecies of user, the snowmobiler, would be most desirable.

In this treatise upon Ethics, Aristotle defines relationships between human beings on the basis of friendships into of good people, friendships based on utility and friendships based on shared pleasures of company. Ethics, for Aristotle, is grounded in a need in human nature, that is, the essence of living human beings to require a just, virtuous, and happy way of life. The aim of human action is a state of happiness, where humans can feel "complete and self-sufficient," a state that could be promulgated by a kinder use of the common grounds of the park. (1097b 21-23).

For Aristotle, happiness is therefore the supreme human good - that is, the ultimate purpose of all human actions. (1097b 21-22). Happiness is a constant state of being, however. It is an activity that one must work for. Sometimes individuals must give something up, like the right to snowmobile all over the park, at all times, to ensure that happiness can be achieved a more holistic sense by others. At present, only the snowmobilers are happy, and even they are not really happy in the philosophers' sense of happiness being connected and even synonymous with virtue -- the snowmobilers are merely indulging in the pleasures of the moment, without real regard for the consequences of their actions upon the other users of the park, the park itself, and the financial and environmental state of Yellowstone over the next several years.

Thus, by using Aristotle's schemata, that is the need to achieve the virtuous goal of a state of happiness or happy activity in the park that will result when the park's terrain is safe and preserved all visitors, not merely those who wish to use it for a single activity, one must approach the people involved, and persuade them to stop out of virtue for the environment they are enjoying. If the snowmobilers continue to behave as they do, from a perspective of pure self-interest and momentary pleasure, soon the park will no longer attract visitors. Then, the park will not be able to function financially. Eventually, not even the snowmobilers will be able to make use of it. Thus, the first of Aristotle's appropriate of addressing "the person" involved can be addressed by the rangers informally approaching the rampaging snowmobilers.

The second of the philosopher's appropriates, that of the "amount or things," could be addressed by banning the snowmobiles entirely from the park, if the individuals who use them could not be persuaded to stop using them off the designated trails. The third appropriate, that of "time," could be addressed by limiting the times the snowmobiles can be used, so the use of the crafts can be more closely watched and monitored. Thus the "goal" of reducing the hazards posed by the snowmobiles that are used, and their incongruous fashion or way of use off-trails that is deleterious to the environment and the safety of the other visitors to the park could be achieved. Above all, through creating bonds between the communities, between all who wish to preserve the park, the park can be created and refashioned into a more livable space -- ultimately, all park users must be friends of the environment and Yellowstone.

Aristotle would stress the need to reach a mean, or a middle ground of understanding that would benefit all of the park's users. This is in contrast to the extremities of the Cynics whom maintained that the essence of virtue, that the only good was absolute self-control. The snomobilers, the Cynics would say, are not exercising the first extreme self-control, and must be taught to behave correctly. Unlike Aristotle, who would stress the mutual pleasures and active benefits that could be attained by a constant, virtuous activity of using the part in a collectively harmonious fashion, the Cynics, whom disdained pleasure as an evil, would stress the need for the snowmobilers to overcome this vice of pursuing mere pleasure, rather than an educational use of the park. Cynics, because they considered all pride a vice, would look down upon the snowmobilers pride in their driving prowess, and attempt to correct it with the second extreme of humility.