Riley Strickland

Professor Hortal
December 5, 2014
Appalachian State University
Abstract
Plato, the philosopher of classical Greece is an extremely prevalent philosopher of
nature whose ideas and ethics continue to be challenged today with the environmental concern of
deforestation. With the clear cutting of forests and wildlife we diminish the world's natural value
and beauty, stripping not only the environment of its natural resources but the people living
around these areas as well. Communities are effected when trees are clear cut and jungles torn
down, the public health is diminished with lack of clean water and air, habitats destroyed,
political power becomes corrupt and jobs are no longer available within certain aspects. Plato
accentuates on his views of his own culture and how he's seen areas of nature go from being
fully thriving to desolate and how that scene affects him. Deforestation is a complicated issue
that yields other problems and stems from deeper causes that require shifts in power and a
changed view on the natural world in order to make a difference.
Keywords: deforestation, Plato, communities, natural world, environment, nature, politics

Plato and deforestation

Plato is one of the most influential philosophers of classical Greece, whose teachings and
ethics of the world still live on today. Plato was the student of Socrates and established himself
as one of his greatest students, throughout the many works of Plato he points out the relationship
of man and nature and the balance between the two. Among the many environmental issues in

our world today I'm choosing the problem of deforestation and it's ruin of diverse ecosystems
that throws the earth off balance. Deforestation is the clearance or cutting down of forests or
stands of trees and replacing it with something of non-forest use. Deforestation is the cause of us
"losing upwards of 80,000 acres of tropical rainforest daily" (Scientific American), sending more
pollution up into our atmosphere and many other societal issues that stem from the root of
deforestation. This problem is one Plato was baffled at back in his time of early 300 BC and still
would not be accepting of if he were still here today.
In the book of Critias written by Plato he describes the consequences of what is now
from what used to be and how "all the richer and softer parts of the soil having fallen away, and
the mere skeleton of the land being left" (Plato 4). This describes the aftermath of deforestation
and society is turning what was once lush and green into a wasteland of barren dirt and unusable
land. A little further on in Critias the description of the mountains is mentioned and all it's
beauty and use which once was with "the abundance of wood" and the land had "reaped the
benefit of the annual rainfall" (4). Through the clearing of forests the land loses it's ability to
soak in all the nutrients it needs, the trees are part of the riparian zone that manages and directs
water flow in order to prevent flooding and unwanted discharge. The worth of the forests is at
it's peak in it's natural element, when Earth is taking it's course and using it for her best ability, in
another of Plato's writings, The Republic, Plato states how "the beauty and correctness of each
manufactured item, living creature, and action related to nothing but the use for which each is
made or naturally adapted" (Plato 601d). The rain forests and trees were made and are needed to
keep everything in balance, these wonders in nature keep our air breathable, water attainable and
ecosystems in check, serving as both homes and breeding grounds for all different types of
organisms and species.

With the problem of deforestation comes branches of many other issues in society like
legal issues with the abuse of human rights, economic problems over obey loss on cash crops and
poverty, environmental issues due to soil erosion and depletion of water resources, public health
scares because of the lack of access to clean drinking water and malnutrition, the decline of
cultural connection to trees that relates to sociocultural dilemmas and finally the complications
within political power and absence of women's rights. All these effects of deforestation and
deforestation itself are caused by colonialism, globalization, political corruption and
policies favoring industry over agriculture. I think culture and mind set is a main focus point for
all these issues, how you're raised, what people have always known and what they learn is what
defines them and gives them motive for certain ways of going about things. All places and
people have "their own culture, but when you remove that culture from them, then you kill them
in a way. You kill them. You kill a very large part of them", Wagari Maathi said this in response
to government coming into her community in Africa and taking over (Taking Root). Plato had
his own culture from living in Greece and how he was taught growing up, he developed his
thoughts and mind set from being around certain people and putting his ethics and morals into
practice by viewing the world around him. In Critias Plato clearly puts blame on humans for
the destruction of the forests and timber, the result is only "food for the bees" (Plato 4) is left
from the shrubs and herbs remaining. Even in the times of the early 300 BC Plato saw this
destruction as a brutal intrusion of natures rights and was disturbed that human's thought they
had such power that allowed them to dominate the environment.
If people began to coexist with nature and not try to bring it under the rule of mankind we
would be much better off, just how with "learning to walk the child learns to cooperate with this
oppositional environment, rather than to fight against it" (Sanday, Recco 69). This quote comes

from Plato's Laws and is a good example of humanity and it's relationship with the world; we
view nature as something that should be tamed and used for our benefit when in reality the earth
isn't here to solely satisfy our needs. The unbalance of power is shown also in the effects of
human rights abuses, and unjust political power because one group in power wants to
strip the environment while others don't feel the same way. Equality and justness is hard earned
and requires perseverance for "the truest and best equality is not easy for just anyone to see"
(134). This idea of equality not being easy for everyone or anyone to see has been made
prevalent throughout history, from how the Native Americans were treated when the British
discovered the New World, to the Civil Rights Movement and the rights of women. We see over
and over again when looking back on the past how it takes people ample time to realize the
injustice taking place and even more time to make a switch and change the wrongful acts into
something progressive and morally right. The world is facing injustice and being wrongfully
treated now in the present and needs more voices to stick up on it's behalf, Plato saw this
thousands of years ago and people now need to realize it as well.
In Critias, Plato shares how the natural world is "not a value-free world" and how he's
committed to the "view that there are values in the natural world, or that the values are part of the
furniture of the natural world" (Johansen). There are values in the trees of the world that give
way to clean drinking water for people, and maintain the health of the world, these should be
values we hold to a high standard because without these basic needs communities will fail.
Communities in Africa and parts of South America for example are lacking in environmental
diversity, few amounts of trees and wildlife and as a result in order to get clean drinking water
women must walk miles every day. Within his teachings Plato, as a student of nature, learns to
"attain understanding of the perfection and goodness of the natural world" and how when we

interfere with the balance of nature something will be destroyed and lead to
further imbalance like we see with deforestation and the effects that stem from it (Johansen).
The values and promise forests hold in the communities where they are, are far more important
than our need to clear cut for another corporation farming business where they mass produce
cattle, chickens and pigs for their meat. Plato's ethics shed light on how preserving the world we
are given and using it without imparting harm to it is essential in continuing the environments
value.
Plato saw the beauty and wholeness of the world when he examined it, he valued it being
untouched by human hands and what it was made up. Society needs to see gain this perspective,
deforestation will lead to ruin of our world, ecosystems and communities; this travesty will bring
about further business and political corruptness, unfair labor, poor health and the further
extinction of thousand of species were already losing by the day. As Plato quoted human
behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion and knowledge and this behavior
wont be changed unless we gain a different view and mindset of the world to preserve the
environment and work along side nature, not against it.

Frede, D. (2003, September 16). Plato's Ethics: An Overview. Retrieved December 1, 2014,
fromhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics/
Measuring the Daily Destruction of the World's Rainforests. (2009, November 19). Retrieved
December 1, 2014, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-talks-dailydestruction/
Plato (2001). Critias. South Bend, IN, USA: Infomotions, Inc.. Retrieved from http://0www.ebrary.com.wncln.wncln.org

Sanday, E., & Recco, G. (2012). Plato's Laws : Force and Truth in Politics. Bloomington, Ind:
Indiana University Press.
Taking root. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://wwwtc.pbs.org/independentlens/takingroot/resources/takingroot_handouts.pdf
Thomas Kjeller Johansen, Plato's Natural Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias,
Cambridge University Press, 2004, 218pp, ISBN 0521790670