Whose Nature By Cronon Summary

“Whose nature?”. Cronon begins by remarking how people disagree about nature and how the main message in his book is that this argument is inevitable. He says, “Nature becomes our dogma; the wall we build around our own vision to protect it from competing views. And like all dogma, it is the death of dialogue and self-criticism. This is the seductive power. This is the trap it has set for us.”
In his view, nature will always be a contested terrain and it’s meaning will always be the basis for all conflicts in thoughts and opinions. He says, “...such persuasion will never occur if all we do is assert the naturalness of our own views”. What he is trying to put forth is that no matter how much we try to proclaim that our meaning of nature is the best, there will always be someone arguing against you. Therefore, it is best to satisfy yourself that you are the winner rather than involving yourself in a futile, never-ending conversation.
Robert Harrison argues about the “radical otherness” of nature. According to Cronon, nature does not exchange words or hold a conversation with us
He remarks that though this seems to be different, we should not forget that this is simply a “simulacrum” of nature which are meant to appreciate. He admits that no “mystical flash of enlightenment” occurred, but he realized in his meditative moment that it is indeed a beautiful place. Here his mood changes again and he begins to see the place with different eyes. Each individual constructs a different meaning of nature owing to his or her cultural or historical background. Thus, we cannot think of nature as “One Universal Nature” but many different natures. He says that people will always have different viewpoints and tales of such silent rocks or nature, but that is one of the most important things people have in