290: The Nature of Wilderness

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/nature-wilderness. Nowadays we think of wilderness as a fully natural environment that contrasts sharply with the designed and constructed environments in which we normally move. But does that vision of wilderness really exist anymore? What is natural and what is artificial about wilderness? Should humans be understood as a part of nature or distinct from it? And how should we approach conservation efforts so that we balance the needs of a growing world population with the need to preserve some aspect of the wild in our lives? John and Ken welcome Jay Odenbaugh from Lewis & Clark College for a program recorded live on campus in Portland, Oregon.