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Articles

The Importance of Nature for Thought

Gerardo Posada considers some of the philosophical benefits of green spaces.

One of the most important tasks of the philosopher, if not the most important, is to think. Nature presents her with a space where her task can be most easily carried out. Even in large cities, wooded groves, parks, and gardens, are some of the places the philosopher counts upon in order to be able to build authentic thought beyond the limitations and contingency of her normal, congested world.

Of nature’s many aspects, I have chosen to focus on three here, namely, nature as freedom, as inspiration, and as health. I will also show how three philosophers individually embodied these reactions to nature, beginning with the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), who praised nature as being where we’re able to break away from the lifestyle prescribed to us by society.

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