Natural and Epistemological Pragmatism: Democracy and Environmental Problems

In this analysis, a pragmatic model of the human relationship to nature is presented. Parallels are drawn between the epistemological pragmatism used by humans to experience large-scale environmental problems and the natural pragmatism by which all species evolve to meet the challenges of their environment. It is argued that powerful stakeholders have the ability to shift the short-term consequences of environmental problems to less powerful political entities, thus delaying the pragmatic recognition and remediation of these issues. A synthesis of the phenomenology of Alfred Schutz provides the foundation for a reappraisal of solutions to environmental problems and suggests that rational humanism does not provide realistic solutions to environmental threats.