Noah Haskell

Rubric Paper
East-West Studies
December 18th, 2015

Nature, by its very definition, is an all-encompassing concept which can be found in

every culture through out history. Yet each culture has its own specific views on humanity's

relationship with nature. In this paper, we will examine the views of different cultures in central

Europe and eastern Asia by examining societal ideals and art, as well as the official stance on

nature.

In modern western society, nature has been traditionally viewed as separate from society,

originating from the dichotomy between mind and matter. This view, originating from Greek

philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, was adopted by early Christians. Plato drew a sharp

distinction between the soul and the body. The soul was divine, capable of making rational

thoughts and decisions, while the body was subject to irrational, animalistic desires such as lust

and hunger. We can see this duality, and the value of the pure and divine soul who does not have

these animalistic desires, through out Greek and, by adoption and adaptation, Christian culture

(Binde 2001).

We can see this duality in Greek culture through the divide between the gods of Dionysus

and Apollo. Dionysus is traditionally represented as hermaphroditic, generally represented with

the head of a man with a beard and the body of a beautiful woman. This deity is a shape-shifter,

and his form changes as he does, echoing the whims of nature. In contrast, Apollo is seen as an

almost fascist figure, formal and regal. Apollonian art follows suit, showing the unity and purity

of form that the Greeks valued so heavily. The epitome of this purity is symbolized in the Greek

beautiful boy. (Paglia)

 The beautiful boy was valued in Apollonian culture for numerous reasons. As discussed

above, he symbolizes purity, especially in youth. He is without desire for sex, free of the

compulsions of nature. This ideal symbolism is so important to Apollonian culture, that statues of

fully grown men were still represented with the genitals of a young boy, showing his ability to

overcome this desire. The beautiful boy symbolizes much more than that, though. He is without

physiology, and does not need to eat, drink, or reproduce. He has transcended nature, and time

itself, unlike Dionysus. Dionysus is stuck in the turmoil of gluttony and nature, while the

beautiful boy has transcended to a saintlike or angelic state. This is where the idea of western

cultures obtain the idea of angels being represented as a little boy (Paglia). These Apollonian

ideals transitioned into the philosophical movement of Stoicism during the Hellenistic period.

Stoicism merged the ideas of Apollonian Greece and teachings of Plato. In Apollonian

teaching, animals and by extent human beings have a central nature which they must comply

with. The chief nature of humans is that they have the ability to reason (Stephens) with a soul,

which places them above the inferior soul-less animals and designates them as rulers of

the world.

The early Christians ideas of nature mirror the Greek society from which they emerged.

Through the theology of early saints such as St. Augustine and St, Gregory of Nyssa, Stoic ideals

were adopted into Christian teachings. The Catholic church maintains that when God created

humankind he placed a soul formed in the image of God inside the body of an animal. This soul

has free will, while the body is driven by natural compulsions such as lust, hunger, greed, and

gluttony. All of nature gains this negative imagery, and it cannot have any positive impact on the

righteous soul of human beings. Those who associate with nature are thought to adopt its

qualities. Peasants who work the land for food are thought to fail to develop the intelligence,

initiative, and sophistication of city dwellers (Binde 2001).

 Nature did not begin as evil, for when god created the world he judged it to be Very

good. Instead, the reason for the nature problem originated form human failings. When Adam

and Eve ate of the cursed fruit, god cursed the earth as well as humanity. The early church

believed that the earth was originally a perfect sphere, with harmonious natural features, but that

because of human sin it had malformed into its rough surface.

Nature, while evil, was meant for humanity to rule. The same peasants who were

thought to be dulled by their association with the land were praised due to their ability

to dominate it. Nature was given as a gift to the humanity by God, given to nourish

humanity. Every living and crawling thing shall provide food for you, no less than the

foliage of plants (God to Noah, Genesis 9). This idea originated in Aristotelian

philosophy.

In stark contrast to the early Christians we have the ethical structures of eastern

Asia. These structures focus on humanity harmonizing with nature. In Daoism, we see

the central concept of the way, or the Dao. The Dao is not unchanging like the

Apollonian beautiful boy, rather it is fluid and ever changing (Dao De Jing). Concepts

such as surpassing desire are common, but they are much different than that of the

west. Instead of attempting to surmount nature, one must work with nature. By

detaching one's thoughts from one's own desires and attuning themselves to the desires

of nature, one can achieve enlightenment. This idea is paralleled in Buddhism, where

one must completely remove one's sense of self in order to achieve enlightenment.

The stark duality of the western cultures is not seen in eastern cultures. Nature is

a part of the Dao just as man is, while in western cultures, nature is seen as something

evil which must be overcome. We can see the ideals of the Greeks thought their art,

some of the symbols of which have still remained ingrained in our culture.
Works Cited:

Binde, Per. Nature in Roman Catholic Tradition. Anthropological Quarterly 74.1 (2001): 15
27. Web

Stephens, William. "Stoic Ethics." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 18 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.iep.utm.edu/stoiceth/>.

Paglia, Camille. Sexual Personae. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990. Print.