Jay Hansford C. Vest

Will-of-the-land: a Philosophy of Wilderness Praxis and Environmental Ethics Jay Hansford C. Vest

Will-of-the-Land is a figurative and etymological derivation of the term wilderness that reflects the primal intrinsic value of wildlands. The study initially explores the traditional Indo-European (Germanic and Celtic) origins of the wilderness ideal in ancient practice and as a precursor to the American wilderness land use designation. A subsequent chapter investigates Genesis and the Judeo-Christian values associated with wilderness, as well as a history of Britain's Royal Forests as wilderness. It further examines a Native American approach to sacred geography with particular attention to the Pikuni-Blackfeet Badger-Two Medicine sacred wildlands. As the history of the wilderness ideal is continually developed, discussions engage the American wilderness philosopher Henry David Thoreau and his critics, American activist John Muir and his role in the Hetch Hetchy controversy with attention to developing a natural aesthetic theory. Subsequent themes engaged include the philosophy of wilderness solitude, eco-justice, wilderness praxis, wildness and creation, as well as ecological egalitarianism with an overriding concern for environmental ethics.