Vergil and the land : Georgic wonder and ethics of place

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorHattingh, Johanen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorde Villiers, Annemarieen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Applied Ethics.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-03T10:41:12Zen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-26T12:13:38Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2024-03-03T10:41:12Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2024-04-26T12:13:38Zen_ZA
dc.date.issued2024-03en_ZA
dc.descriptionThesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2024.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study considers parallels between the environmental thoughts of the ancient Latin poet Vergil and three contemporary frameworks in environmental ethics: Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, Arne Naess’ Deep Ecology, and Peter Berg’s bioregionalism. Long before environmental ethics or even the notion of nature conservation existed, ancient thinkers were already reflecting on human impact on the environment and on our interaction with non-human animals. In his didactic poem on agriculture, the Georgics, Vergil presents us with a farmer who takes a holistic approach to his land. He regards his land and its non-human inhabitants with respect, sympathy and even love in some cases. This farmer is not trying to conquer the land; rather, he is keenly aware that he is taught by the land and that he needs to work with the land and its non-human inhabitants as his partners. Furthermore, he is living in a particular place, where the landscape, soil, weather, and natural vegetation are particular, and the kind of care needed for domestic crops and animals in this place also has to be particular. Vergil does not hesitate to praise the beauty of his native Italy and to wonder at the marvel of new life and new growth. Similarly, he does not conceal his disappointment and sadness, even empathy at times, at the loss of biotic life. Against the background of Leopold’s, Naess’ and Berg’s work, this study therefore argues that there is an ethic which emerges from a close reading of the Georgics, which resembles the thoughts from the land ethic, the Deep Ecology movement and bioregionalism, almost two thousand years before any of these frameworks were conceptualized. The notions of land as a community of which humans are mere members, of co-operation and co-existence, of self-realization through others, localization and of living-in-place may all be detected in Vergil’s ethical thoughts on farming. This ethic guides not only the ancient farmer but should guide humankind today to deal more ethically in our engagement with the natural world. The discussion rests on both emotional and intellectual arguments. Firstly, I argue that the natural world sparks a sense of wonder in the attuned viewer, which is heightened by an embodied experience of the non-human. The georgic farmer clearly has such a relational experience of the land and his co-inhabitants. This is georgic wonder. Secondly, I argue that georgic wonder sparks an attraction, a sense of care which informs ethical engagement with the biotic community. This study thus contends that the georgic farmer’s lived experience reveals a code of conduct which offers timeless moral principles that closely resemble those of Leopold, Naess, and Berg, prescribing how we ought to live in and with the natural world. This is the georgic ethic.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek parallele tussen die omgewingsgedagtes van die antieke Latynse digter Vergilus en drie eietydse raamwerke binne die omgewingsetiek: Aldo Leopold se landetiek, Arne Naess se Diep Ekologie en Peter Berg se bioregionalisme. Lank voor omgewingsetiek of selfs die idee van natuurbewaring bestaan het, het antieke denkers reeds oor die mens se impak op die omgewing en ons omgang met nie-menslike diere nagedink. In sy didaktiese gedig oor die landbou, die Georgica, stel Vergilius sy lesers voor aan ‘n boer wat sy land holisties benader. Hy bejeën sy land en die niemenslike inwoners met respek, simpatie en selfs liefde in sommige gevalle. Hierdie boer probeer nie om die land te verslaan/oorwin nie; hy is eerder alte bewus daarvan dat hy deur die land geleer word en dat hy met die land en die nie-menslike inwoners as vennote moet saamwerk. Hy woon verder op ‘n spesifieke plek waar die landskap, grond, weer en natuurlike plantegroei spesifiek is; daarom is die soort sorg wat gedomestikeerde plante en diere in hierdie gebied benodig ook spesifiek. Vergilius skroom nie om die skoonheid van sy tuisland Italië te besing of om hom oor die geheimenis van nuwe lewe en groei te verwonder nie. Net so verbloem hy nie sy teleurstelling of hartseer, selfs empatie in sommige gevallei, oor die verlies van biotiese lewe nie. Teen die agtergrond van Leopold, Naess en Berg se werk voer hierdie studie daarom aan dat daar ‘n etiek uit ‘n stiplees van die Georgica na vore kom wat met gedagtes uit die landetiek, Diep Ekologie-beweging en bioregionalisme ooreenstem, byna twee duisend jaar voor die konsep van enige van hierdie raamwerke gevorm is. Die idees van land as ‘n gemeenskap waarvan die mens bloot ‘n lid is, van saamwerk en saamleef, van selfverwerkliking deur ander, lokalisering en leef-in-‘n-plek kan almal in Vergilius se etiese denke oor landbou raakgelees word. Hierdie etiek lei nie net die antieke boer nie, maar behoort die mensdom vandag ook te lei om meer eties met die omgewing om te gaan. Die bespreking berus op emosionele sowel as intellektuele argumente. Eerstens voer ek aan dat die natuur ‘n gevoel van verwondering in die sensitiewe waarnemer wakkermaak, wat deur ‘n liggaamlike belewenis van die nie-menslike versterk word. Die boer in die Georgica het so ‘n verweefde belewenis van die land en sy mede-inwoners. Dit is die verwondering van die Georgica. Tweedens voer ek aan dat hierdie verwondering ‘n aantrekking, ‘n gevoel van omgee in die waarnemer wakkermaak, wat ‘n etiese omgang met die biotiese gemeenskap aanvuur. Hierdie studie voer dus aan dat die geleefde ervaring van die boer in Vergilius se Georgica ‘n gedragskode openbaar wat tydlose morele beginsels daarstel. Hierdie beginsels skryf voor hoe ons in en tesame met die natuurlike omgewing moet leef. Dit is die etiek van die Georgica.en_ZA
dc.description.versionMastersen_ZA
dc.format.extent43 pagesen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/130290
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshLeopold, Aldo, -- 1886-1948en_ZA
dc.subject.lcshEnvironmental ethicsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshBioregionalismen_ZA
dc.titleVergil and the land : Georgic wonder and ethics of placeen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
devilliers_vergil_2024.pdf
Size:
1.72 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Masters Degrees (Philosophy)