Saving Nature but Only for Man”

Krauthammer's “Saving Nature but Only for Man” Charles Krauthammer, in his essay “Saving Nature, but Only for Man,” argues against whom he refers to as a sentimental environmentalist. Charles Krauthammer is a well-known right-wing political columnist and commentator who has worked or contributed to a number of magazines throughout his career (Krauthammer 292) His purpose behind writing this article was to prove that nature is here to serve man and not the other way around. The logic of his argument derives from an unusual form of pathos: an appeal to a human's fondness for other humans over so-called luxurious aspects of the environment. This pathos coupled with appealing to people's fear and moralistic views are the rhetorical strategies he utilizes throughout his argument. Krauthammer begins his argument by saying that people are beginning to make protecting the environment and becoming more green-friendly a prominent moral value in 1991's society. With great influences and important figures like Ted Turner and George Bush, along with companies such as Dow and Exxon showing their “love for Mother Earth,” people are starting to change their views and attitudes of the environment (292). This type of environmentalist (or what he refers to as a “sentimental environmentalist at the end of his essay (294)) is inclined to intertwine man and nature into one, but Krauthammer on the other hand claims that “When man has to choose between his well-being and that of nature, nature will have to accommodate”. (293). The foundation of his argument comes from Protagoras' old maxim, that “Man is the measure of all things” (293). In other words, man can only know the universe through man's eyes. All of physics is human physics, all of philosophy is human philosophy. In the past, animals (including humans) have accommodated to nature, suffering through various natural disasters: floods, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and hurricanes. Krauthammer claims that now we must make the