Ethics Lab - John Muir: Understanding his legacy.

Please answer the following questions:

1. When and where did Muir's first wilderness "epiphany" occur? What brought this on? (see http://www.orchids.org/ooc/Genera/Calypso/bulbosa/index.shtml).

2. What is "panentheism"? How does this differ from "pantheism"? Why are these terms relevant to Muir's life?

3. According to Muir, what is the best way to learn about "wilderness" (hint: see p. 177)?

4. Give some examples of Muir's rejection of "modernism" and the idea that "civilization" is the paramount of human creation?

5. How does Muir's view of "nature" and Emerson's differ according to Oelschlaeger?

6. What is Muir's view on the value of books/photos in learning about "wilderness" or "God"?

7. What is "mechanistic materialism"? Why is this view of the world important to understanding Muir's view of the world? What other beliefs characterize "modernism" as a cultural paragidm?

8. Muir's views seem to have coalesced after his bout with malaria? What do you think happened? How would you describe the change in Muir's perspective after this illness? Are there any parallels between this event and aboriginal traditions?

9. Muir said,"water does not seem to be under the dominion of ordinary (Newton's) laws, but rather as if it were a living creature, full of the strength of the mountains and their huge wild joy". What is Muir talking about? (quote: 1868, his trip to the Gulf was in fall 1867).

10. What are "hoofed locusts"? Why does Muir mention them (see p. 197)?

11. According to Oelschlaeger, is Muir best characterized as an "anti-modernist" or "post-modernist". Why?

12. In Chapter 3, Through the River Country of Georgia, Muir says, "These mountains are highways on which northern plants may extend their colonies southward". This is a significant observation and relates to some basic principles of Conservation Biology; please explain the connection.

7.