Environmental Thought and Action: Pre-Modern and Post-Modern

Author(s): Denis Cosgrove

Source: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Vol. 15, No. 3 (1990), pp. 344-358
Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/622676
Accessed: 05-04-2015 15:37 UTC

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/622676?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
344

Environmental andaction:pre-modern
thought
andpost-modern
DENIS COSGROVE
ReaderinGeography, University
ofGeography,
Department ofTechnology,
Loughborough
LE113TU

8 February,
MS received
Revised 1990

ABSTRACT
The papernotescertain of thepost-modern
features debatewithin geography andin sciencegenerally: thecrisisof
foundationalismandtherevisionofgeographical Itdrawsparallels
historiography. between theseandaspectsofnatural
philosophyat theopeningofthe'modern' periodinthelatesixteenth andearlyseventeenth A progressive
centuries.
historiographyof geographical
scienceis challengedand thecontinued of analogicaland metaphorical
significance
understanding, inrelation
particularly tovisualimages,is discussed. attention
Specific ispaidto theusesofmathematics
andgeometry treated andtotherelations
metaphorically, between andtechne
poesis asmorally butrelated
distinct modesof
human withthenatural
interaction world.
Therevival inrecentyearsofmanyfeaturesoflateRenaissance scientific
debates
isexaminedthrough theworkofsomefeminist andneo-romantic authors.

ofgeography,
KEYWORDS:History Post-modernism,
Environmentalism, Feminism, Geometry,
Metaphor, Synchronicity

INTRODUCTION Radical doubt about the possibilityof establishing

... Words,afterspeech,reach
Intothesilence.Onlybytheform, thepattern,
Canwordsofmusicreach
as a Chinese
Thestillness, jarstill
Movesperpetually initsstillness.
Notthestillness oftheviolin,whilethenotelasts,
Notthatonly,buttheco-existence,
Or saythatthebeginning werealwaysthere
Beforethebeginning andaftertheend.
Andallisalwaysnow.(T.S. Eliot:Burnt Norton)
Thispaperisa commentary on twofeatures ofcontem-
porarythoughtinsciencegenerallyandingeography
These are the collapse of foundation-
in particular.
alism now widely proclaimed in 'post-modern'
writings,and revisionsin the historiographyof
Westernscience,revisionsnow affecting ourwriting
of the historyof geography(Dear, 1988; Harvey,
1989; Livingstone,1988). These two featuresare
closelyrelated.Failureof beliefin the possibilityof
constructinga meta-theory forbothnaturalandsocial
science and of a correspondingscientificmeta-
language allowing transparentrepresentationof
realityinevitablyputs into questionthe validityof
Modernistmodels of progressivehistoricalchange.
epistemologicalfoundations to scientific is
enterprise
equallychallengingto positivist,Marxistand histor-
icistformsofexplanation.By thesametokenitques-
tions the accepted historiography of geography,
constructed on thesamefoundations as
traditionally
the historyof westernsciencegenerally:as a pro-
gressivemovementfromignoranceto enlightenment
abouttheglobe,itsenvironments andpeoples.Bothof
thesefeaturesofcontemporary thoughtbearheavily
upon thepost-modemdebatein geography,butitis
the formerthathas receivedthe greaterattention,
while the implicationsof a revised history of
geographyforpresentdebate are only now being
explored.
Byspeakingofpost-modernism we implya closure,
an end pointto the loosely-boundedhistoricaland
geographicalepoch we call the Modern era. This
originatedintheEuropeanRenaissanceand 'Scientific
Revolution' and spread, with its characteristic
featuresof the capitalistworld market,mechanical
and biologicaltechnologyand individualism, across
theentireglobe by thethirdquarterofthetwentieth
century.Those who seekto give precisionto theend
of Modernismvaryin theirchoiceof datesbetween
the early 1960s and the mid-1970s(Punter,1988).

Trans.Inst.Br.Geogr.N.S. 15: 344-358 (1990) ISSN: 0020-2754 Printedin GreatBritain

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Environmental andaction
thought 345
Some would challengethe whole idea of epochal the naturalworld has significant implicationsfor
change,preferring to see recentmovements as merely geographyas an environmental science.
the latest chapterin a continuingModernistepic
(Harvey,1989). Here I pointto evidencethatwe are Geography, scienceandtheusesofmetaphor
indeed describinganew the outlinesof the world, One expressionof recentchange in geographical
makinga new world of meaningthroughaltered thinking is the shiftfrombiologicaland cybernetic
modes of representation but thatthenoveltyof the modelsofenvironmental andspatialorganization like
enterprise maybe deceptive.UnlikeHarvey(1989),I organismor system,to metaphorsderivedfromthe
regardsuchalterationsin representational modes as arts like spectacle,theatreand text (Society and
significantbut,as I shalldemonstrate, someaspectsof Space, 1988; Cosgrove & Daniels, 1989). This
contemporary representation areveryold indeed. suggests more thansimplya casual reselectionof
What I intend here is a commentaryon the spatial and environmental metaphors,and moves
Modem period,notso muchbyexaminingitdirectly, beyond open acknowledgement of the inherently
as by drawingattentionto some parallelsbetween perspectival natureofall scientificdiscourse.The shift
the intellectualand representational modes of the in metaphorthreatens to departfromitsAristotelian
periods immediately preceding and following senseofthedisplaceduse ofa representation or word
Modernism.My argumentis thatboth in the later whichcouldotherwisetruthfully capturean aspectof
sixteenth century-immediately preceding the reality.Suchcatachresis has alwaysbeen necessaryif
ScientificRevolution,and in the closingdecades of science was to deploy ordinarylanguage to rep-
the twentiethcentury-followingthe scientific and resentthefindings furnishedby itsempirical perspec-
intellectualcontributions of relativityand psycho- tive.In some respectspost-modernism promotesthe
analysis,therehave been seriousattemptsto collapse evocative sense of metaphoras that which lies
Modernistdistinctionsbetween spiritand matter, betweenfactand idea. The metaphormay thuspic-
humansand nature,subjectand object,poesisand tureor represent an understanding whichmustother-
techne.In both cases understanding is constituted wise remainunarticulated: 'what metaphornames
neitherin solelyoperational, norentirely speculative may transcendhuman understanding so that our
terms,but ratherthroughtheconstruction of meta- languagecannotcaptureit'.In thissense'discussions
phorandimagebyindividuals activelyembracing the of metaphorhave rightlystressedits powerto con-
materiality oftheworld,recognizing thenecessityof nect,associateand gathertogether; metaphorwould
mechanicalintervention in transforming nature,but thusseemtobe a forcetendingtowardsunity'(Harries,
refusing to be ruledby thematerialist and mechanical 1979,p. 72).Metaphoris closelyalignedinthisusage
visionof Modernism.Metaphorand imageare con- to thevisualimagewhichgivesappearanceto some-
ceivednotas surfacerepresentations ofa deepertruth thingnot in itselfapparent,exceptthatthereferen-
butas a creativeintervention inmakingtruth. In each tialityof language makes for greatertheoretical
case,theplace ofhumansinnatureand theirmanipu- densityin verbal images. Scientificdiscoursehas
lation of the naturalworld,primarygeographical always been metaphorical in the Aristoteliansense,
issues,are centralto thedebate. but has proclaimeda privileged'truth'forits meta-
InitiallyI makesome commentson metaphor, fol- phorsormodelsinrepresenting reality.The rejection
lowed by an outlineofthedefining featuresofwhatI offoundationalism inpost-modern writings impliesa
shall call Renaissance environmentalism (environmen- relativity in whichthecompetingclaimsof different
talismin the sense of a recognitionthatthe whole representations cannotbe evaluated(Harding,1986;
beingofhumansis integrally linkedto thevitalbeing Harvey, 1989). Acceptanceof pure perspectivism
of environingnature).I indicatethe place of math- opens thedoor,at leastin thought, to transcendance
ematical,mechanicaland theatrital metaphorsin rep- of its own limits,to metaphysicsand thus to the
resenting thisworldview.These bearupon attitudes collapse of clear distinctionsbetween science and
to humanintervention in thenaturalworld.A brief poetics(Harries,1979).
commenton the Modernistdiscomfortwith such
metaphorical discourseallows us to remarkupon its
recentrevivalintwo strandsofpost-modern thinking SIXTEENTH-CENTURY
which adopt a universalistratherthan a nihilist ENVIRONMENTALISM
position:greenenvironmentalism and feminism. The The Cartesiandistinction betweenspiritand matter
attention eachgivesto relationsbetweenhumansand so centralto Modernistepistemologyhas as its

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
346 DENISCOSGROVE
corollariestheprinciples ofactionby contactand the insightsas well as earlierRenaissancere-readings of
denialofoccultcause (Sack,1980). It seeksto restrict ClassicalauthorslikeVitruvius.
metaphoras a legitimatemode of scientific investi- Commonthemesof a syncretic philosophyare to
gationand expression,favouringmeasurement, cal- be foundin the work of such diverseRenaissance
culationand quantification as generatorsofcertainty writersas Pico della Mirandola,Henry Cornelius
in the scientific
investigation of the materialworld. Agrippa,Daniele Barbaro,JohnDee and Robert
The storyofhow thegroundsforthisepistemology Fludd.An earlyexponentofthisRenaissancenatural
were laid in the studiesof planetarymotionfrom philosophyis the fifteenth-century Paduan doctor
Copernicus through Brahe, Galileo, Kepler and and student of optics, Nicholas of Cusa, Cusanus
Newtonis familiar to us all,as is theresultinganalogy (Cassirer,1963):
of the createduniverseas a greatmechanicalclock
We knowfora factthatallthings standinsomesortof
whose partsmove and coordinatewithan incessant
relationto one another, that,in virtueof thisinter-
regularityin thesilenceofan inanimate void.Viewed
oneuniverse
constitute andthat
allindividuals
relation,
fromtheperspectiveof theprogressivehistoriogra- in theone Absolutethe ofbeingsis unity
multiplicity
phyofModernism, itis tempting to regardCartesian itself.
(Cusanus, quotedinDebus,1968,p. 4)
epistemology andNewtoniancosmologyas theinevi-
table outcomeof the age of Europeancelestialand Cusanus still accepted a medieval cosmography
discovery.That it was not necessarilyso derivedfromAristotleand Ptolemy-of a stableuni-
terrestrial
simpleis indicatedby whathistorians ofsciencehave verse composed of concentricspheres extending
recently revealed of attachment to concepts of fromtheelementalworldoffire,earth,waterand air
universalsympathy,harmonyand correspondence throughthe planetaryspheresto the celestialorb,
on the partof thinkers like Copernicus,Keplerand and onwardsthroughthe unchangingand eternal
Newton(Vickers,1984; Debus, 1978). emperiumof angelic choirsto the Mens and God
A debate continuesover the extentto whichan himself. Buthe,and theneoplatonists who followed,
older monistand oftenoccultview of naturewith argued fora patternof correspondences and sym-
its characteristic combinationof 'practical'tech- pathieswhich unitedthis whole cosmos with the
nology and alchemy,astrologyand magic,helped singlepowerof divinelove, sensiblyexperiencedin
or hinderedthe emergenceof Modernistscience Pythagoreanmusicalharmonies.The cosmos was
and technology.Questionscentreon whethersuch thusimbuedwithspirit.It was a livingsoul,forin the
thoughtmerelyfaded beforethe compellinglight perfection ofeachpartlay theunchanging perfection
of Modem technologyand causal explanation,or of the whole, and vice versa-a corpusmysticum.
was activelysuppressedforideologicaland political Humans,createdin the image and likenessof the
reasonsin favourof the new ways (Wright,1975; Divine archetype,were microcosmsof thisgreater
Thomas,1983; Hill,1983). Recentwritingexpresses order. Our physiologyis composed of the four
a baffledbut increasinglyresignedacknowledge- elements,and correspondsin its constitution to the
mentthat'ratherthana shift... froman illuminist, spheresofthecosmos:
hermeticstrain'of the late Renaissanceto
fideistic,
Itistheunanimous consent ofallthePlatonists,thatas in
the 'empirical,rational,mechanicalphilosophy'of
thearchetypal World,all thingsare in all; so in this
the Modern period,'both strandspersistthrough- areinall,albeitin different
corporeal world,all things
out the period-indeed both co-existin the same tothereceptive natureofeach.Thusthe
ways,according
writers'and 'it is possible forseventeenth-century elements arenotonlyintheseinferior bodies,butalsoin
writersto hold at the same timetwo or more-to theHeavens,inStars, inDivels,inAngels, andlastlyin
us incompatibleviews' (Vickers,1984, p. 29). It is God,themakerandarchetype ofall things.(Agrippa,
this co-existencethat I referto as Renaissance 1524;quotedinJung, 1973,p. 76)
Environmentalism.
The environmental pictureof thelateRenaissance Environmentalism andhumanintervention
was neitherscholasticnormechanical.To be sure,it In principle therefore, anypartor elementofcreation
owed as much to an inheritanceof Classical and may be transformed intoany other.And Man (sic),
Medieval thoughtas itdid to thecapacityofitsown theperfectmicrocosm, was thecreaturecalledupon
thinkersto penetratethe world afresh.Its most to perform suchactsofintervention in nature,and in
novel featurewas neoplatonism,
characteristically to doingso to perfect and realizehimself. As Pico putit
whichwereaccretedhermetic, cabbalisticandmagical in his OrationontheDignityofMan:

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Environmental andaction
thought 347
Neitherheavenlynorearthly, mortal
neither norimmor- unitywhich has to be discoveredafreshby each
talhaveWe madethee.Thou,likea judgeappointed for humancreature. Thereis a stronghomologybetween
beinghonourable, artthemolderandmakerofthyself; thisalchemicalvisionand the Taoist philosophyof
thoumayestsculptthyself intowhatever shapethou betweenprinciples ofYinandYang,whose
Thoucanstgrowdownward
dostprefer. intothelower sympathy and whose opposition
natureswhicharebrutes.Thoucanstagaingrowupward unity produces meaning
produces difference,
separation and analysis(Jung,
from thysoul'sreasonintothehighernatures whichare
divine.
(PicodellaMirandola,1492,p. 5) 1973,p. 69-74).

In the variousformsof magic:'natural'-operating MetaphorandagencyinRenaissance Environmentalism

at the elementallevel, 'celestial'-astrology,and Mathematics and metaphor. Mathematicsactedas the
'ceremonial'-operatingat the supercelestiallevel representational languageofthisscience.Butitwas a
throughnumerology and cabbala, humans sought to mathematics of correspondance and harmonyrather
know and manipulatevia images the occultforces thanof calculation, measurement and quantification.
which inspiredthis cosmos. In makingmachines True to its Pythagoreanand Platonic ancestry,
humansapplied fundamental creativeprinciplesto Renaissance Environmentalism declared empirical
thepracticaltransformation oftheearth:draining and measurement to be theoretically uncertain andimper-
irrigating, mining and building. Above all, in fectbecause it dealt with the temporal and mutable.
alchemy,whichunitedthespeculativeor magicaland Numberand geometrydid notderivefromempirical
thepractical, theysoughta keyto thetransmutation observation, theywerepurecreationsofmind.Their
of nature.This key, in European,as in all other statementsand findingswere invariate,universally
alchemies-Chinese, Arab and Indian-was the true.Thus we findthe EnglishRenaissancethinker
philosophers' stone,bornofthecosmicegg,an image RobertFluddattacking mathematicians likeDescartes
ofrebirth (Eliade,1978). fortheirinsistence on addition, subtraction, multipli-
We nowrecognizethatthephilosopher's stonewas cation and division,on roots and fractions.Fludd
not a purelymaterialobjectbut equallyan interior, insistedrather on thestudyofratioandproportion and
divine illumination which could be achieved onlyby the symbolicmanipulation of number: a genuinely
thecombination ofempirical studyand spiritual puri- Phythagorean science(Debus, 1978,p. 18).
ficationon thepartofthealchemistand thematerials This treatment of mathematics is a striking differ-
ofalchemicalcraft: furnace,retorts,sulphurand quick- ence betweenthe methodsof RenaissanceEnviron-
silver.The selfis both theprimamateria, thesubject mentalism and modernscience.Yet itdoes notimply
matter,and also the means, the secret stone, of a purelyspeculativescienceon thepartoftheformer,
alchemy.Its intendedresultis themysticalmarriage, a mathematical poetics unconnectedto mechanical
the coniunctio,which unites and transcends technologyand thetransforming roleofhumaninter-
oppositions: male and female, light and darkness, vention in the natural world. Humans activelytrans-
spiritand matter,sun and moon, Mars and Venus- form nature as well as contemplating it. JohnDee's
ultimatelyGod and creature.Matterand idea dis- MathematicalPrefaceto the Englishtranslationof
solveinmetaphor andalchemyisan actofcontinuous Euclid'sElements (1570) outlinestheways thatmath-
creationofmeaninglyingoutsidetimeand space and ematicsgives access to knowledgeof both worlds,
evadingexpressioninlanguage.Ityieldsonlyimages, temporalandspiritual, andalso directsus to thetrans-
likeMichael Maier'sAtalantaFugens(1618) or John formingpower of the machine.Dee's aim was to
Dee's HieroglyphicMonad(1591),akinto themandala popularizetheinsightsofRenaissancescienceforthe
symbol.Ratherthananalysisand distinction, sought 'mechanics'of London-the engineers,surveyors
by the naturalscientistof the Modern period,the and instrument markers-ratherthan for scholars,
alchemistand neo-platonicscientistsand technol- and to show that makingmachinesand touching
ogists generallysought synthesisand unity.Thus, eternaltruthswere not incompatibleactivities.He
whiletheteleologyofmedievalscholasticism saw the opens witha threefold distinction ofall creationinto
futurecontrollingthe present,and the mechanical thingssupernatural, naturalor 'ofa thirdbeing'.That
philosophyof theModem periodsaw thepast con- thirdbeingis Thyngs Mathematicall:
trollingthe present,RenaissanceEnvironmentalism Forthese, beying (ina manner) middle, betwene thynges
allowedfora presentthatsimplyis,as it has always supernaturallandnaturall; arenotso absolute andexcel-
been. In this,both historyand progressare chal- lent,as thyngessupernaturall: Nor yet so base and
lengedina visionofenduringmeaningful unity,buta grosse,as things naturall:Butarethynges immateriall:

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
348 DENIS COSGROVE
bymaterial
andneverthelesse, thingshablesomewhat to earthnor heaven:but is absoluteMegethologia:not
And through
be signified. theirparticularImages,by crepingon ground, and dasselingtheeye,withpole,
Art,are aggregableand diuisible:yet the generall rod,orlyne:
perch, butliftyngthehartabovetheheavens,
Formes, areconstant,
notwythstandyng, vnchaungeable, by inuisiblelines,and immortall beames meteth
andincorruptible
vntransformable, (Dee,1570) withrefexions,of thelightincomprehensible:
and so
Ioye,andperfection
procureth (Dee,1570)
vnspeakable.
Mathematicscan be dividedinto two principals:
numberand geometry.Numberis entirelyimma- Beyond this speculativeside, geometryyields
terial,havinga mysticalquality-it is thereasonof more practicalapplications.It firstemergesas an
God: 'All thinges(...) do appeareto be Formedby observationaland experimental (thatis, empirically
reason of Numbers. For this was the principall experienced)science,the science of magnitudes.It
exampleorpatterninthemindeoftheCreator'(Dee, originatedin the Egyptianneed to locate and mark
1570).Themanipulation ofnumberisa purescience--- boundariesobscured annuallyby the Nile flood.
theintellectualunderstanding of thewhole cosmos, Geometryyieldsa numberof practicalmechanical
and throughthat the speculativeknowledge of artsderived,Dee claims,fromthe 'fieldsof Nature'.
ourselves,ourworldand God: Theseallowus to intervene inthemundaneprocesses
of the naturalworld. They includecosmography,
ByNumbers propertie therefore, ofvs,by all possible geography, chorography, music,ballistics (Gunnyng),
meanes(... ) learned,we maybothwindeanddrawour- Statike
(weightsandpulleys),thestudyofwaterflows,
seluesintotheinward anddeepesearchandvew,ofall and architecture. Dee
creaturesdistinct andFormes: horology FollowingVitruvius,
uertues, natures,properties architecture as theQueen oftheArtsbecause
andalsofarder, arise,clime, ascend,andmount regards
up(with itallowsus to createlesserworldson theearthinthe
Speculative Winges)in spirit, to beholdin theGlasof
Creation, theForm ofFormes, theExemplar Number ofall imageofthemacrocosm(Barbaro,1567).Renaissance
Numerable: both visible and mortall
inuisible: architecture subsumeda rangeofenvironmental prac-
thinges
andimmortall, Corporall andSpirituall. (Dee,1570) tices includingcivil and militaryengineering,the
design and plantingof citiesand the inventionof
This is not numberused as quantification but machines.Architecture was the summaryscienceof
numberas an internaldiscourse,as metaphorand a humanagencyinthenaturalenvironment. Dee himself
formof meditation:the sidereal mathematicsof was intimately involvedin manyof thesepractical
essences,generationand creation, whichallowsus to arts:collectingand makingglobes,maps and navi-
comprehend God's originalalchemy.At its highest gationalinstruments; instructing Gilbert,Frobisher
form of applicationsuch numericalmathematics and possibly Drake in navigation;corresponding
becomesentirelymystical, thearcanecabbalisticart withthegreatFlemishand Iberiancartographers of
of conjuringangels and identifying the 'numberof thelate sixteenthcenturylikeGerardMercatorand
ourown name,gloriouslyexemplified and registered GemmaFrisius.
inthebooke oftheTrinitie mostblessedand aeternal'
(Dee, 1570). Purenumberdid have itspracticalvalue, The meaningof machines. If mathematics was both
especiallyin the calculationof proportions, to the metaphorand practicalskill,the machine also had a
merchant,surveyor,cartographer and engineer.It complexmeaningwithinthediscourseofRenaissance
assistedrepresentation and use of theearth'ssurface environmentalism. Initwe encounter and
a significant
and resources. indicativedistinctionbetween Renaissancescience
Geometrytoo can giveus insightintothingsever- and Modern mechanicalphilosophy.The arts Dee
lasting,particularly throughthe studyof optics,of describesare called 'mechanical'and include the
theraysofdivinelightand love beamingincessantly manufacture ofmachinesto alternature.Buttheroot
upon us throughtheagencyof thestars.The higher meaningofmechanical hereliesinitscounterposition
celestialscienceis astrologybut the highestis pure to 'liberal'and 'speculative'.The 'mechanical'arts
sacredgeometry: werethosewhichsupposedlyrequiredno intellectual
Butwellyou mayperceiveby Euclid's that input
Elementes,
and thusmightbe performed by 'meremechan-
icians'.
Dee attempts to show thatsuch artsmayindeed
moreampleis ourScience, thentomeasure and
Plaines:
lessetherein istaught thenhowto be related to the 'higher' liberaland speculative arts,
nothyng (ofpurpose)
measure Land.Anothername,therefore, mustnedesbe forbothare equallyinspiredby an understanding of
had,forourMathematicall ScienceofMagnitudes: which nature-'the machineoftheworld'.It is preciselythe
regardeth notclod,norturff: neitherhill,nordale:neither animation(inspiration) ofthemachineby thespiritof

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Environmental andaction
thought 349
understanding thatturnsitfroma passivemodelto an plantingof Americancolonies,Barbarowas directly
activedevice,or,inthetermsusedbyItaliansto make concernedwithgeographicchange,in creatingnew
this same distinction,from macchinato fabbrica worldsthroughhumanagencyin nature(Cosgrove,
(Brusatin, 1980). Dee's practicalworks,hisallegience 1988; 1989).
to the mechanicsof London and his criticismof For those lackingunderstanding the mechanical
university scholars,revealhisdesireto raisethestatus arts appear magical. Indeed, within Renaissance
of the mechanicalarts(Clulee,1988). RobertFludd, environmentalism thedistinctionbetweenmagic(the
the most sophisticatedand arcane of the English productionof effects forwhichthecause is mysteri-
Renaissance Environmentalists, having criticized ous) and machineis occluded.The transformations of
mathematics forcalculationand measurement, none- alchemyor the practiceof naturalmagic are predi-
theless praised Archimedesfor his inventionof cated on the same understanding and the same ani-
machines.Fludd referred to the Greek as a perfect matingspiritoperatingwithina unifiednatureas are
'naturalmagician',implyingthat,as inalchemy,prac- theinvention andpracticalapplicationofmachines.In
tical intervention depended on self-understandingthissensethereis a significant difference betweenthe
(i.e. the domainof the liberalarts).This suggestsan idea ofthemachinein Renaissancescienceand in the
activitywhich unites pure speculationand mere mechanicalphilosophyoftheModernperiod.
unthinking humanaction. A contemporaryItalian
humanist, Daniele Barbaro,clarifies thedistinction
in Opticsand theatre as spatialmetaphor.The animating
hiscommentary on Vitruvius'Architecture. He opens spiritwhichmakesbothmachineandmagicoperative
ChapterX,devotedto machines, witha celebrationof is light,'the firstformwhose diffusiongenerated
theperfect naturalform.The circlebothmovesand is body or corporeityby drawingdimensionlessfirst
stationary at thecentre,ascendsand descends,has a matterinto threedimensions...The essentialfunc-
circumference at once concave and convex, and a tionof lightwas to be thebasis of spatialdimension
diameter whichmovesquicklyandslowlyat thesame and physicalextension,and to be theoriginalphysi-
time(Barbaro,1567). The circleand revolutionary calcauseofallnaturalmovementandchange'(Clulee,
motionthuscontainand resolveoppositions.Vulgar 1988, p. 47, 54). Optics was the key to God's rep-
people,Barbaroclaims,do not understand thisprin- resentationand construction of the 'machineof the
ciple and thus are caused to wonder at the effects world',theglobe.Geometricoptics,perspective, also
of rotationalmovement,regardingmachines as underlayhumandiscovery:geographic,microscopic
marvellousor magical. and telescopic(bringingnew worlds to light)and
But,as Dee also confirms, it is naturewhose prin- human picturingof the terrestrial orb (Edgerton,
ciplesguide us in themanufacture and animationof 1975; 1987; Alpers,1982), whetherin mappingor
machines: paintinglandscapes,or in constructinglesserworlds.
Theatrewas the domainin whichhumansmost
theorigin [ofmachines]isinnecessity which
movesmen the cosmicprinciplesof lightand
fullyrepresented
to accomodate themselves to theirneeds;natureand Renaissancearchitects
persective. madedetailedgeo-
animalsteachthemand offer examplesfromwhich,it metricstudiesof circularClassicaltheatre
appears, many artifices
take their principles-aboveall buildings
thecontinuous rotationof theworld,whichVitruvius anddevelopedcomplexperspective constructions for
refers to as a macchination: and thusit is calledthe stage scenes.Dee himselfhad been closelyinvolved
machine oftheworld.(Barbaro, 1567,p. 441) inthataspectoftheatre whichbroughtthemechanical
artsinto contactwiththe liberalart of drama:as a
To follownature'sexample in the manufacture of Cambridgestudent heconstructed mechanical devices
machineswe mustapplyreasonand intellect, above for'magical'illusoryeffectson stage (Yates, 1966;
all mathematical knowledge,for'the formand prin- 1979). Boththemetaphoroftheatre, and perspective
ciple of machinesis circularmotion'.Barbaroillus- construction of theatresas representational spaces,
trateshiscommentary at thispointwithreference to hold an important place in RenaissanceEnvironmen-
hydraulicmachinesfor liftingand moving water, talism.The theatrewas morethanan entertainment,
drawinghis examplesfromdirectobservationalong itsillusoryworldbothmirrored and represented the
Venetianriversof locks,sluicesand pumpsto assist perfection ofgreaterworldsand itsmeaningencom-
navigation,controlfloodingand reclaimland. Like passed theidea of a conspectus, a totalizingrepresen-
Dee, who promotedthe art of navigation,explo- tation.ThusAbrahamOrteliustitledhisgreatworld
rationfora north-east passage(Taylor,1930),and the atlasof 1570 Teatrum OrbisTerrarum, EliasAshmole

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
350 DENISCOSGROVE
his chemicalwork TeatrumChemicum Britannicum.represents as an actofpicturing,usingimagesoflight
Zonca's (1607) engravings ofmechanical deviceswas beinginscribed on thedarknessas theprimary partur-
Novo Teatrodi Machineed Edificii, and thenew public ition.Keplerrecognizedthecentrality ofthepictured
anatomytheatresofBolognaand Padua revealedthe imagein Fludd'sargumentand his responsereveals
structure and operationsof the lesserworld of the that this key debate between Renaissance and
humanbody (Ferrari, 1987). ForShakespearetoo the Modem thinking turnedon 'themeaningand reality
worldwas a stageand in 1550s Venice,thegreatest of visualimaginings'(Westmann,1984). Keplercalls
urbanspectacleinEurope,GiulioCamilloconstructed Fludd's work 'playfulpicturing',lackingempirical
his greatmemorytheatreencompassingall human warranty buttreatingtheeye as thepointof projec-
knowledge (Yates, 1966).During Carnevale, when the tionfor imagesgeneratedin thesoul.'Objectivepic-
publicspectaclesof statewereparodiedin St Mark's turing', by contrast, Here
Keplerregardsas scientific.
Square,floating teatridelmondomooredinthelagoon, the eye receivesits images frombeyond,froman
exhibitedthe entirecosmos (Architettura e Utopia, objectiveworldseparatedfromtheconscioussubject.
1980) and the anatomytheatreswere obliged to An externalrealityis imprinted on theretinaas on the
presentpublic disections.Theatricalmetaphorsin lensofa telescopeormicroscope.Linear,single-point
Renaissanceenvironmentalism signifieda totalworld perspective, theperspectiveof thepainteror theatre
of representation whereintheimageis thepathway designer,gives way to distance-point perspective;
to truth,to a realityknownonly throughappear- analogical reasoningis displaced by cause-effect
ances.In thissensetheatreactedas a paradigmofthe (Alpers,1982; Kubovy,1987).We findresonancesof
entiremode ofdiscoursewe have beenexamining. In Kepler'sdistrustin David Harvey'scritiqueof post-
itsattention to theplayofappearancesandmeanings modernism's attentionto the image.For Harvey,as
it anticipatescertainfeaturesof representation in forKepler,theimageis 'depthless', implyingthattrue
post-modern worlds. meaningliesbelow thesurfaceofappearancesrather
In semioticterms,RenaissanceEnvironmentalismthan constructedthroughimages (Harvey, 1989,
refusesto distinguish betweensignifier and signified. p. 308ff).
The sign (imageor metaphor)is regardedas consti- In theplayofimagesRenaissanceEnvironmental-
tutiveofand operativein theworldbecausethesign istsbelievedtheycoulddisclosetheworldanew.But,
constructs meaning:'wordsare equatedwiththings, like Columbuswho refusedto acceptAmericaas a
abstractideas are givenconcreteattributes' (Vickers, newworld,rathertheold gainedbya newroute,their
1984). Empiricalnatureis both createdand known was theworldas italreadyexistedandwouldalways
through light,itis a spectacle,a systemofsignspoint- exist-a world of being ratherthan becoming
ing to another systemofmentalcategories.Thisreifi- (Pagden,1986; Harvey,1989, pp. 217-19). It might
cationofimagespossessesan aestheticunityinwhich be newlydescribedand itcouldbe subjectto human
language, ritual,spectacle, image and metaphor intervention andmanipulation, buthumanactionhad
become active agents in humantransformations of to followprinciplesprescribedin natureitself.It is
natureand theinventionofmachines.The centrality perhapsapt that Robert Fludd's powerfulimages
oftheatreas a totalworldofsignification makessense shouldbe engravedby the same Theodorede Bry
in thiscontext. who engravedthe firstrepresentations of the New
In the famousdebate betweenRobertFluddand World as an arcadianimage of harmonyinherited
Johannes Keplerin 1617-21,Fludd'sargument is car- fromtheOld (Bucher,1981).
riedessentiallyby striking visualimagesratherthan
empiricalevidenceor mathematical reasoning.Thus: LOSS AND RECOVERY OF THE
'The truephilosophy... will diligentlyinvestigate ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE IN
heavenandearthandwillsufficiently explore,examine MODERNISM
and depictman,who is unique,by meansofpictures'
(Fludd,quotedinWestman,1984,p. 179). The struc- The Modern period,heraldedby Descartes,Kepler
turesand harmoniesof theworldand of thehuman and Gaileo,graduallysuppressedthisanalogicalway
body cannotbe seen directlybuttheycan be appre- of knowing,substituting forit a lineardiscourseof
hended through representation.Thus picturing cause and calculated,measurableeffect.The new
becomes an ontologicalact, whose techniquesare science distrustedmetaphor,or, more precisely,
geometry(the studyof form)and perspective(the regarded its metaphors and models as trans-
studyofrays).The creationof theworlditselfFludd parentlensesto truemeaningratherthanthemselves

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Environmental andaction
thought 351
constitutive ofit.Thatbeliefbecamethemorefirmly de Lessepsadoptedtheutopianvisionsof St Simon.
heldas sciencewas alliedto a beliefinhistorical linear de Lessepssawhisschemesinmystical terms:theSuez
progress through technology and materialism. Canal would providemorethanmerelya channelof
Modernism'sfaithin measurement, calculation,the tradeforimperialFrance,but would linkthe 'male'
establishment ofempiricallaws,materialtechnologi- spiritofEuropewiththe'female'spiritofAsia,realiz-
cal progressthroughappliedscience,and historicism, ingharmony intheworld:ideaswhichechoJohnDee's
togetherwith its distrustof the poetic,the meta- reasonsforpromotingnavigationof thenorth-east
phoricaland theintuitive as validformsofknowing, passage.ModernistplannerslikePatrickAbercromby
all standinoppositionto RenaissanceEnvironmenta- looked to EasternconceptslikeFengShui to satisfy
lism.The pre-modern apprehension oftheworldwas theirsense of an underlyingorderof being to be
ofcourseneverentirely expunged.It remainedhow- recognized when humans intervenedin nature.
everan obscureand subordinate theme,especiallyin Modernisthistoriography hastendedto excludesuch
the realmof scientific endeavour,onlybecomingof featuresfromaccountsof the engineering heroesof
exoteric interestagain in post-modernthinking. progress,or to treatthemas embarrassing deviations
Nonetheless,as a subordinatethemein theModern froma rationalistfaith.When placed alongsidethe
periodsuchattitudesdid surfacein some surprising environmental visionof sixteenth-century engineers
places. such ideas seem less isolated. We are able to re-
In theworkofAthanasiusKircher(Godwin,1979), evaluate themtoday preciselybecause of our own
EliasAshmole(Yates,1979),and even Isaac Newton distrust intheModernproject.
himself (Westfall,1980),strongstrainsoftheenviron-
mentalist philosophyremainedintotheearlyModern
period.As a separatedand esoterictraditionit was Synchronicity
upheldby Rosicrucians, Theosophistsand Masons, One reasonforcontemporary changein theway we
but its significanceis difficult
to interpret precisely read theworkand ideas of people in thepast is the
because of the secrecywith which adherentssur- influence of psychoanalysis on our understanding of
roundedthemselves.How far that secrecywas a humanmotivation, as wellas thesubjectivist
strainin
responseto thesuppressionof ideas associatedwith twentieth-century philosophyderivedfromphenom-
Renaissance philosophy during the triumphant enology,andsemiotics. And itis intheworkofone of
periodofthemechanicalphilosophy(Hill,1983),and thegiantsofpsychoanalysis thatwe findtheclearest
how faritwas partofa moregeneralirrationality and restatementof the Renaissance environmentalist
desireforsecrecyamongadherents is debatable.Out- faith,althoughsubtlyreworked.Carl Jung'sclassic
sidebothformalscienceand secretsocietiesitis poss- essay Synchronicity: an acausalconnecting was
principle
ible to traceelementsof views similarto those of firstpresentedin a lecturein 1951 and expandedin
RenaissanceEnvironmentalism intherepresentational 1957, alongside a monographby the professorof
world of literature and the artswhose embraceof theoreticalphysicsW. Pauli (Jung,1973). Its major
metaphorical truthremainedunderstandably strong. impactcame in the late 1960s. Jung'sessay may be
Romanticwritersparticularly were attractedto a readas an earlyanticipation of some oftheconcerns
unifiedpoetic vision of human and cosmic life. ofpost-modernism.
Goethe,von Humboldtand Ruskincome readilyto Jung'sessaygrewoutofpsychotherapeutic experi-
mind.Even Modernistwritersof theearlytwentieth ence and his theoryof archetypalsymbolsin the
century:Eliotand Yeates were committedto sucha collectiveunconscious.It drew togetherhis interest
vision.But artand sciencewere definedas separate in the meaningsof alchemyand, significantly, his
realmsand the worldof poesishad littleregardfor, understanding of the crisisof visualizationor per-
indeeda deep distrustof,theworldof themachine: spectivismin quantumphysicsin thelightofrelativ-
techne.More impressive inthisrespectaretheideasof ity theory,the recognitionof sub-atomicparticles
some of the engineersduringthe Modern period: and Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty.For
menlikeFerdinandde Lesseps,engineerof theSuez Jung,these theoreticaland observationaladvances
Canal and promoterof similargrand schemesof had finallylaid to rest-at least in the arena of
environmental intervention like the Panama Canal advancedscientific thought-theunqualified beliefin
and the floodingof the Saharanchotts(Heffeman, scientific certaintythroughcausal laws. Alternative
1989). Likea numberofThirdRepublicFrenchengin- explanatory principles weredemanded.Synchronicity
eers,at the heightof Victorianscientific positivism, he proposedas one ofthem:'a coincidencein timeof

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
352 DENISCOSGROVE
twoormorecausallyunconnected eventswhichhave The principle ofwholenessor unityto whichboth
thesameor similarmeaning'(Jung,1973,p. 25). Jungand Ruskinalludeis oftengraspedmostfullyby
The emphasisinJung'sessayis on meaning.Rather the unthinking mind,theunconscious,and becomes
than attackingthe causal explanationof natural represented symbolically, mostcommonlyindreams,
events inheritedfromthe Modern scientific view, exceptionalpsychicconditionsor near-death experi-
whichhe acceptsas validforexplainingmuchofwhat ences.We knowtoo thatthereare techniqueswhich
occursinnatureand experience, Jungarguesthatitis humanscandevelopinordertoincreasethefrequency
insufficient to explain all. There exist phenomena ofsuchunitaryexperienceofselfand world.
which'cannotbe explainedcausallyunlessone per-
mitsoneselfthe most fantasticad hoc hypotheses' Unlikecausality, whichreignsdespotically over the
whole picture of the macrophysical world and whose
(Jung,1973, p. 26). Jung'spositionwould findsome universal lawisshattered incertain lowerorders of
only
agreement fromscientific 'realists'andcriticslikePaul magnitude, synchronicity is a phenomenon thatseems
Feyerabend.Relativitytheoryindicatesthat space primarily connected withpsychic conditions, thatis to
and timemaybe reducedto zero undercertaincon- say withprocessesof the unconscious. Synchronic
ditions where, logically,linear causalitybecomes phenomena arefoundto occur--experimentally-with
impossible.It collapses distinctions betweenbeing somedegreeofregularity andfrequency intheintuitive,
and becoming.Only an enduringunity,or an inex- 'magical'procedures wheretheyare subjectively con-
plicable discontinuity make sense under these con- vincing but are extremely difficult to verifyobjectively
ditions,descriptionbecomes purelycontextual.To andcannot be statistically evaluated. (Jung,1973,p. 95)
accept this unitymay render us silent. But character-
The key problemwith synchronicity, as Jung
isticallyhumansseek to createmeaningand do so
suggests, lies in the difficulty of representing itsfind-
throughmetaphor.The metaphorsof synchronicity limitations of Modern
are thoseofharmonyand correspondance whichwe ings within the metaphorical
findin Agrippa,Dee and Fludd.Jungpointsto their science.But,as Goetheor Ruskinor theRenaissance
Environmentalists discovered,theydo yieldto rep-
parallelswiththe Chinesephilosophicalconceptof resentation
Tao, whichhe translates simplyas meaning:
in verbal metaphororgraphicimage.The
equivalencesof synchronicity are contingent, and,in
Jung's words, the contingent is 'a formless substance'
Thereissomething formless yetcomplete intherealmofpureintellect. In psychicintrospection
Thatexisted before heavenandearth
Howstill!Howempty! theyappearas archetypal images,classicallytheman-
onnothing, unchanging, dala as a symbolof unity,or the monadwhichDee
Dependent
allpervading, unfailing. attempted to represent inhisobscurealchemical work
One maythink ofit as themother ofall things under (Dee, 1564). Jung'sown emphasison symbolicrep-
heaven resentation, the significance of images,picturesand
I do notknowitsname, metaphors calls to mind Fludd's positionin thepol-
ButI callit'meaning'. emicwithKepler,as Jung'scolleaguePauliwas keenly
IfI hadtogiveita name,I shouldcallit'TheGreat' aware(Westmann, 1984,pp. 207-12).
(quotedinJung, 1973,p. 10) In theclosingpages of his essay Jungarguesthat
synchronicity is merelya specialinstanceof 'general
This principleof meaning cannot be grasped acausalorderliness', a broaderprinciple whichincludes
throughempiricalobservationor measurement, but 'acts of creation'(productionsof the imagination-
ratheris apprehendedphenomenologically, below poesis),propertiesof naturalnumber(as we see in
the intellectuallevel of formalscience. We are Dee's Preface), and the discontinuities of theoretical
reminded ofJohnRuskin'scommentson thescientific physics.Suchorderliness is notesoteric(althoughits
understanding ofnature: representations often make it appear so to the
Modernmind).It is intuitively knownto us all:
AndI was quitesurethatifI examined themountain
anatomy I shouldgo wronginlikemanner, ... onlytheingrained
scientifically, beliefinthesovereign powerof
touching theexternal aspects.Therefore, ... I closedall causality... createsintellectual andmakesit
difficulties
geologybooks,andsetmyself, as faras I could,toseethe appearunthinkable thatcauseless eventsexistsoreven
Alpsina simple, thoughtless anduntheorising manner; occur.Butif theydo thenwe mustregardthemas
butto see them,ifit mightbe, thoroughly. (Ruskin, creative acts,as thecontinuous creation ofa pattern that
1903-13, p. 475) existsfrom alleternity, repeats itselfsporadically,andis

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Environmental andaction
thought 353
notderivable from anyknownantecedents. (Jung, 1973, transform them,and throughthem,theirreferents.
p. 102) Today we live in a worldso saturatedin reproduced
It is thiswhichaccountsforthecross-cultural images
and
trans-historical stabilityof certainsymbols,images ... thatnature itself
threatens tobecomewhatitwasfor
andmagicalpractices includingalchemy(Zimmerman, theMiddleAges:an encyclopaedic, illuminated book
1984) and forbeliefin a worldanimatedby creative overlaid withornamentation andmarginal every
glosses,
spirit,a consciousnessthatdependsupon represen- objectconverted intoan imagewithitsproperlabelor
tationinimagesforitsexpressionand indeeditsvery signature ... The quintessential modern experience of
apprehension. thisnew'bookofnature' is thestrollthrough thescenic
wonders ofa national parkwitha plasticearphone that
responds totriggers embedded alongthepath.(Mitchell,
POST-MODERN CONCEPTIONS AND 1980, p. 395)
ENVIRONMENTALISM
Meaningis thusincreasingly constructed through
Jung'sargument bringsus close to some of theideas images,callingto mindDee's reference to 'thinges
being advanced in contemporary post-modernism. immateriall: and neverthelesse, by materialthings
The underlying contentionsare thatthefoundation- hablesomewhatto be signified'.
alist philosophicalpositionderivedfromDescartes, For FrenchformerMarxistslike Baudrillardthe
Locke and Kant is exhausted,the Enlightenment post-modern culturalconditionappearsnihilistic and
beliefin reason no longer philosophicallytenable. whollynegative,a chaosoffragmented andmeaning-
Thekeydistinctions ofobjectandsubject,appearance less images. For David Harvey (1987; 1989) it is
andreality, beingandbecoming,uponwhichModern merelya culturalvehicleforthemostrecentstageof
philosophywas erectedhave collapsedin thefaceof capitalist evolution: 'flexible accumulation' and
insights from Neitzche, Husserl, Heidegger and Modernist'space-time compression',an interpret-
others,and we have witnessedthe limitationsof ationwhichleavesMarxistmeta-theory inviolateas a
linear discourse.In social organizationthe era of mode of criticism. For others,however,the post-
'Fordist'productionand oforganizedcapitalismwith modernexperienceheraldsthe possibilityof a new
itsspecific historicalcontributionsand contradictions world,or rather, once again,thepossibilityof pene-
as theorizedby Marx and Modernisationwritersis trating an old one,largelysubmerged by theexcesses
passed (Harvey,1989). It has ceded place to a new of Modernism; the world of synchronicity, the
order,or rathera new dis-order-to an era of self- monad,of RenaissanceEnvironmentalism. As a dis-
generatingconsumption, of hyper-reality,
a society courseofhumanlifein thecontextofnaturegeogra-
of the spectacle,a cultureof 'euphoricsurfaces'. phyhasa contribution to describing thisworld,butto
DiscourseoftheModernist, rationalist
typegrounded do so will place new demandson its languagesof
inmeta-theory failsto captureconsistentmeaningin description and modesofrepresentation.
thesecircumstances partlybecauseoftheimpossibility The mainproponentsofsucha viewareassociated
of generatingempiricalchains of causalityforco- with the most environmentally-sensitive of the
existantevents.Today meaningmaybe constructed, many ideological strandsidentifiable withinpost-
if at all, only in a discourseof images whose con- modernism.These are the greenideology or 'new
tingencyis activelyembraced.Thisis reflected in the romanticism' and certainfeminist positions.In rather
factthatthe Modernistprogrammein the artsand diverseways thesesuggestthattheholisticperspec-
culture,for example that projected by Futurism, tive is recoverablepreciselybecause we are newly
Cubismor theInternational Style,whichalignedthe openedto non-linear logic,onceagainfreedfromthe
artsto the construction of a new, rationalistsocial tyranny ofsubjectand object,appearanceand reality,
order,is bankrupt. Artandliterature seemdoomed(or surfaceanddepth.We arethusable to understand and
released)to theplay of thoseimagesand apparently acceptthecontingent truthofmetaphorical discourse
arbitrary meaningsthatModernismregardsas super- and the creativeconstruction of meaningthrough
ficial.In post-modernism however,imagesno longer images.The explosiveandfragmentary aspectsofthe
illustrate, reflector disguisea realityexistingbelow post-modernexperienceoutlined by writerslike
themselves, rathertheypresentthemselvesas simu- Jameson(1984), Berman(1984) and Mitchell(1980)
lacra,constitutive of theirown realities.Theirmean- offerthe conditionsfor realizing an 'implosive'
ing is unstable,subjectto our voluntarycapacityto experience of meaningfulrhythmsbeyond the

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
354 DENIS COSGROVE
fragments, an experiencerealizableitselfonly in
images. I willcommentbriefly on someoftheseideas.
Significantly, both the new romanticism and femin-
ismturnto a visionofthenaturalworldandourplace
withinit directlyapprehendedthroughcreativeacts
ofimageand metaphorconstruction, thusto thecon-
cernsof Ruskin,Humboldt,Goetheand further back
to Agrippa,Dee and Fludd.These morerecentwrit-
ings however,oftenfailsufficiently to addressthe
issueoftechnical byhumansintonature,
intervention
an issuewhichI shalldeal within conclusion.
Newromanticism
The emergenceandgrowingsocio-political impactof
contemporary environmentalism parallelstheperiod
mostcommentators defineas post-modern. Itspower-
fuland oftenpopuliststrainsof holism,unitary,or
'whole earth',vision,of a 'new age' seem and often
are,naive.Butthephilosophical andideologicalrange
of the 'Green' movementextendsfurther than its
I openedup inthehuman
moresimplistic expressions.Here, approachitscon-
tentionsby way of two seriouswriterswho have
addressedthisstrandof post-modemsensibility: the
English art criticPeterFullerand the Czech-American
philosopher, ErazimKohak.
Fuller,inan essaytitled'Neo-Romanticism' (1985,
pp. 83-91) notes a significantshift in artistic
predelictions over the past decade in Englandand
elsewhere:
thereturn
tolandscape hasbecomesomething ofa stam-
pede.Tenyearsago,no self-respecting artstudent(...)
wouldhavetouched a boxofwatercolours orhavegone
near lakes,valleys,rollingfieldsand smallGothic
Todaythehillsarealivewiththesightofplein
churches.
onceagain.(Fuller,
airpainters 1985,p. 83)
Modernisminart,he argues,drovea wedgebetween
thepursuitofartandthestudyofthenaturalworld.If,
as the Modernistphilosophyargued,naturelacked
mind,and even the divinitythat Romanticslike
JohnRuskinsoughtto read in naturedid not exist,
then naturewas unworthyof artisticattentionor
anaesthetic.
consideration-itwas quiteliterally Such
a philosophyfindsits expressionwithinmodem
geography'srepresentation of the naturalworld.
Fullerpointsto theecologistGregoryBateson'sclaim
thatthisbelief,coupledwiththepractical
implications
ofapparently unlimited progress,have
technological
increasingly obvious consequencesnot merelyfor
theexternalenvironment, butforourpersonallives,
our bodilyecology and our spiritualwelfare.These,
This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
despiteour pretenceto the contrary, are stillulti-
matelysustainedby thenaturalworld.The deathof
the 'higherlandscape'in art,thatis the failureof a
beliefin a moral value withinnatureand in our
capacityto realizethatvaluein imagesand represen-
a morefundamental
tations,articulates loss of faith.
Art becomes eitherpure aesthesis-a responseto
sensuouspleasure--orit is aligned,as Modernists
believed,to a technologicalutopia,poesisdivorced
fromtechne. Undersucha dispensationRuskin'scon-
ceptoftheoria,'theresponseto beautyofone's whole
moralbeing',simplymakesno senseas a programme
forart.But,Fullerargues,in recentart,forexample
thepaintingsofAustralian landscapistsSidneyNolan
and Fred Williams,we may detect a break with
Modemism, a serious attemptto realize a new
aestheticinnature.Ifnatureis nota productofmind,
then,as FreudandJungargued,mindmaybe a prod-
uctofnature.The function of artthenbecomesonce
again representational, pictureand console the
to
'potentialspace'ofcreativity
illusionthatwe
pyscheas we pass fromthe'infantile
createdthe mother(and, by extension,the world)
who nurturesand supportsus, to the adult recog-
nitionof our humanseparatenessfromnatureand
mother' (Fuller, 1988, p. 25). In contemporary
paintersFullerclaimsto finda new resolutionto the
universalquestionsofourrelationswiththeworldof
nature:
We havebecomepeculiarly illateaseinthenature that
nurturesus,constantly worried thatthrough ourown
thatno God
we willcauseit to fail,certain
activities
existswithintherocksandtreestosaveandconsole, sure
thatnotmuchis forthebestinthis,ouronlypossible
world...Thestubborn ofa Sidney
refusal Nolan,ora Fred
oftheAustralian
Williams,to accepttheintractability
landscape,theirinsistenceuponrealizing an aesthetic
responseto it,was not merelysomething new and
admirableinart:italsoborewitness tothatirrepressible
'impulsein thehumanbreast'to affirm beautyin,and
unitywith,thenatural world,regardless. 1988,
(Fuller,
pp.28-29)
FullershareswithJungthe beliefthatis in nature
apprehendedthroughthepsycheratherthantreated
merelyas an analyticalobject thatthe unityof self
andworldsoughtinenvironmentalism is to be found.
Throughimagesand metaphorswe simultaneously
apprehendand create nature as meaningfuland
geographyneednotbe excludedfromthisendeavour.
Fuller'scommentson Modem art echo Erazim
Kohak'son Modem philosophy(1984). Kohak also
 Environmental andaction
thought 355
regardsthecrisisofModernismas ultimately a crisis the framework of modernlifeas to grasp an order
ofnatureand ourrelationswithit: whichcontinuesto underpinourlives,to recover'the
moralsense of thecosmosand of humanlifetherein
IfthereisnoGod,thennature isnota creation,lovingly beneatha layerof artifacts and constructs'(Kohak,
craftedand endowedwithpurposeand valueby its 1984, 26). In so his attentionis directedat
creator.It can onlybe a cosmicaccident, deadmatter the same p. doing
foci of observationas the Renaissance
contingently propelledby blindforce,orderedby environmentalists:the firmament,the
efficient
causality... IfGodweredead,sowouldnature be earthly
andhumans wouldbenomorethanembattled elementsand the rotationsof the spheresas evi-
strangers,
doomedtodefeat, aswehavelargely convinced ourselves denced in the seasons and the skies.How he will
weinfactare.(Kohak, 1984,p.5) integratethese insightswith the world of techne
remainsunclear.
His textis structured aroundthenaturalrhythms and
passagesfromday to nightthroughduskto dawn,of Feminist ofModernism
critique
winterpassingto spring,summerand fall,as he con- IfFullerandKohak the'green'strandofpost-
represent
structshishouse in theNew Englandwoods. Kohak modernculture, SandraHarding(1986) and Elizabeth
seekstorealizeanintimacy withthenaturalworld,but Grosz (1987) serve to articulatea feministstrand.
his argumentis no morea restatement of Thoreau's Feminists have bothcontributed to and furthered the
WaldenthanFuller'sis ofRuskin.It is a sustainedand criticismof rationalist
post-modern epistemology
criticalcommentary on Modern philosophyand an and beliefin the
capacityofhumanreasonto consti-
appeal for a post-modemenvironmentalism, for a tutea
singlelanguageoftruemeaning.Theycriticize
philosophy'whichrecognizesthebeingofhumansas too Modernism'scapacityto 'universaliseculturally
integrallylinkedwith the being of nature'(Kohak, relativepresuppositionsinto potentiallytyrannical
1984,p. 8). philosophicalsystems'(Scott & Simpson-Housley,
Such a philosophyrestatesmanyof the assump- 1989, 232). But
p. theyreadthesefeatures in gender
tions we have traced throughsixteenth-centuryterms:Grosz
arguesthattheModernistscientific pro-
science.It conceivesof a cosmos whichis 'vitaland
ject is inherentlyphallocentric, privilegingmind,
moral',a more intuitivelycorrectthesis than the intellect and logic,conventionally genderedas 'male'
Modernist vision of a measured and mechanical attributes,over heart,
empathy and intuition
naturewhichis as morallyneutralas themathematics
(gendered as 'female') in the search for human
by whichits elementsand dynamicsare calculated, understanding:
measuredand described.Thereis howevera differ-
ence in the relationof metaphorto this cosmos. Scienceaffirms theuniquecontributions toculture tobe
Renaissance Environmentalists still accepted the madebytranshistorical egosthatreflect a realityonlyof
authorityof a divine text throughtheir shared abstract bytheadministrative
entities; modeofinteract-
Christianfaith.Theirmetaphorswerethusbothcon- ingwithnature andotherenquirers; byimpersonal and
stitutiveand grounded.Althoughone sensesa desire universal forms ofcommunication; andby an ethicof
elaborating rulesforabsoluteadjudications ofcompeting
forgrounding inFullerandcertainly inKohak,a rejec-
rights betweensociallyautonomous-that is, value-
tionofaestheticself-sufficiency, theyhave too great of evidence.Theseare exactlythesocial
a sensitivityto 'otherness'to claim a particular free-piecescharacteristics tobecomegendered as a manin
necessary
transcendental authorityfor the metaphor,whose oursociety.(Harding,1986,p. 238)
constitutive capacityis thusfree-floating.
Kohak pointsout thatthe Modernistvision sur- The practiceof Modern science,and indeed its
vivestodaylargelyat thepopularlevel'ratherthanat epistemological foundations, are thusregardedas an
theleadingedge of theoretical physicsor thephilos- expressionof patriarchal suppressionof alternative
ophyof science'(Kohak,1984,p. 18). But,he claims, formsofknowing.Some historical evidenceforthisis
thenatureofcontemporary lifeandthepenetration of provided by Merchant's(1980) interpretation of
advanced technologythroughconsumerproducts changes in the genderingof naturein Renaissance
intoeverysphereofourliveshasmadetheModernist Environmentalism and the changing meanings
creedexistentially convincing.Thus his relationship attachedto humaninterventions intonatureduring
withthemachineis uneasy.He findsit necessaryto the periodof the 'Scientific Revolution'.She claims
pass 'beyondthepowerline'fora directcontactwith thatthe 'deathof nature',recognizedby Fullerand
thenaturalworld,not so muchin orderto abandon Kohak, was in large measure a consequence of

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
356 DENISCOSGROVE
Modernistuniversalisingof a male-gendereddis- has followedthe death of Modernism:its apparent
course. Certainly within alchemy and its final irrationality.We are in 'new times'(Smith,1989), a
metaphorof the mysticalmarriagethereis a more new world,a world of machine-generated images
androgynousvision of nature.Speakingfortoday, wherewe leave theVDU screenaftera day's oper-
bothHardingand Groszappeal to a broaderscience, ations,perhapsamong the flickering simulacraof
informed by feminist theory.The fivefeatures ofsuch capital transfers on the world financial market,to
sciencewhichGrosz identifies are to be foundin the spend an eveningat a Koreanrestaurant in a con-
characteristic
thinking to bothpre-and post-modern vertedParisianwarehouse,a Zen meditation classon
environmentalism: (1) admission of context and Venice Beach or a jog throughRegentsParkwith
observerdependencyin scientific knowledge;(2) the Haydnon theWalkman.Ours is a worldwhere'dif-
relational
natureoftheory, rejecting thebinarydivide ferenceis encounteredin the adjoiningneighbour-
of subject-object;(3) the fluidityof language and hood, the familiar turnsup at the ends of the earth'
representation;(4) the continuity and relatednessof in
(quoted Gregory& Ley,1988,p. 116).Thematerial
self and world and (5) rejectionof the hierarchy and immaterial are confused,thereis muchthatis
impliedby binarycategorizing. theatrical, even magicalabout theworldwe experi-
Similararguments areputby Hardinginherstudy enceoftenvicariously through a continuously elabor-
ofthehistoryofModem science.She arguesthatthe ated rangeofmedia.The collapseoffoundationalism
non-metaphorical appearanceofModernscienceand inphilosophyis becomingexistentially as convincing
itslanguagesbeliesan elaboratesystemofmetaphors as Kohak argues technologymakes the Modernist
as necessarytoconceptualize thisas anyotherdomain creed so thatthe construction of a moralorderfor
ofhumanknowledge.Boththenatureofthesemeta- sucha worldappearsa dauntingtask.
phorsandtheverylackofrecognition servetorepress But ours remainssimultaneously an old world,
both femalesand ways of knowinggenderedas whose unchangednaturalrhythmsstillevoke our
female.Hardingtoo promotesa 'newscience',empha- powerfulresponsesand informour knowledge,as
sizingamongotherfeatures 'personalexperienceas a feminist writersespeciallyhave shown.The disjunc-
formof knowledge'(Harding,1986, p. 240)-a fea- turebetweenthese two sets of experience:of con-
turewhich she too associates with late sixteenth- stantlyelaboratingtechne, ever more sophisticated
centuryscience-and the search for 'a unity of machineson the one hand,and of poesis,wonderat
knowledge combiningmoral and political with thedeeplyfeltsense ofmoralorderin natureon the
empiricalunderstanding' (Harding,1986,p. 241): otheris one of themostdisturbing featuresof post-
modernliving.It informs theworkofall thecontem-
thereisanother worldhidden from theconsciousness of
writersI have discussedhere.In different and
IModern] science-theworldofemotions, politi- porary
feelings
andcollective
calvalues;oftheindividual unconscious; of lessimmediate waysitconfronted also thesixteenth-
socialand historical exploredby novels, centuryenvironmentalists.
particularity For them the machine
drama, poetry, musicandart-within which we all live took its form and meaning from the same principles
mostofourwaking anddreaming hoursunderconstant theyfeltgovernednature.Humanintervention inthe
threatofitsincreasinginfusion
byscientificrationality.naturalworldfollowedrulesinherent inthatself-same
(Harding, 1986,p.245) world,butthoserulesbecameknownto us precisely
in
LikeGrosz,Hardingpromotesa scientific discourse throughthe humancapacityto createmeaning
metaphor and image.
whichwould incorporatethis'hiddenworld'.These
writersarguethata moregender-equalapproachto Despite the dire warningsof both the death of
selfand naturewould producerep- nature and thealienationof humanspiritwe remain
understanding able to embraceand createmeaninginourlivesoutof
resentations moreinlinewiththosebroachedbynew
in other the fragmentation and to discernthepossibilities ofa
or
romanticism 'green' environmentalism,
moral order. The ecology of our bodies seems no less
wordsholisticand intuitively convincing.
secure-if rathermoreconsciouslynurtured-thanit
everwas. We liveina worldofimages,mostofthem
CONCLUSION
mechanically generated.And themachineswe make
A striking of
quality experience in thelatetwentieth- today are increasingly designed to produce and
centuryworld,noted by all post-moderncommen- createimages,eitherdirectly in thesenseofimageor
tators,is its fragmentation and surface-likeappear- soundreproduction systems, orindirectly intheform
ance,thatloss ofa senseoforderand direction which of consumableswhose primeuse value lies in the

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Environmental andaction
thought 357
creationor enhancement of personalor groupstatus rediscoveryof Ptolemy's global projectionsand
images. Itis however preciselythefluidity ofmeaning, experiencedanew in the global navigations.The
theinstability ofcultural codes,thatliberates us,offers post-modern worldis similarly beingre-madeand re-
new freedomsto touch and creativelypicturethe experiencedby global representations: its most
senseofunifiedmeaningunderstoodby Renaissance powerfulenvironmental icon is the image of our
Environmentalists. To achievethiswe arenotobliged worldsentbackby thosemarvelsof advancedtech-
to seek some romanticprimitivism, an escape into nology,the satelliteand the remote-sensed image.
purepoesis.The machineimageitselfhas thecreative We need to locatethehistoryofourdisciplinewithin
powerofmetaphor: we mayevokeourplaceinnature a broaderhistoriography of constantmetaphorical
via thewordprocessoras muchas by livingin a log and imaginativereconstitution of natureand our
cabin or paintinglandscape.Only our inabilityto place withinit,not seekingultimatefoundations for
escape Modernist categories of 'man' and nature, sub- spatial and environmental and
metaphors images but
ject and object,makesus believe thatour machines ratherrespecting themas 'moreor less adequateand
and ourimagesalloweitherescapefromor alienation fragmentary repetition of thatspeech whichnature,
withinthecosmos.As Barbaroand Dee recognized, or perhapsGod, addressesus' (Harries,1979,p. 88).
theyare merelypartof it,transformations of it,and
throughthemwe constantlyre-worknaturein the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
onlyway we can-as meaning.
I shouldliketo thankall thosewho commented
Geographershave always claimed the role of help-
and sense of both the order of the fully on draftsof this paper, specificallyRobin
describing making
naturalworldand the role and recordof humansin Doughty, Steve Daniels, Mike Heffernan, partici-
transforming it. Geographyis neitherpurelytechne pantsat TheEngine ofHistory conference at Texas A &
norpurepoesisandis damagedperhapsmorethanany M University (1988),whereitwas first presented, and
othersphereof knowledgeby dualisticthought.At two anonymousreviewersforTransactions.
the heightof Modernismgeographersembraceda
particularly vulgar formof environmentalism and REFERENCES
remainwaryof the environmental heritage of their
ALPERS, S. (1982)Theartofdescribing: Dutch paintinginthe
discipline.The collapse of many of the structures seventeenth century (John Murray, London)
of thoughtassociated with modern science, and Architettura e utopianellaVeneziadel cinquecento (1980)
certainly withscientism, togetherwitha new respect (Electa,Milano)
forthe power of images to createmeaningoffers BARBARO, D. (1567)Idiecilibri diM. Vitru-
dell'architettura
enormousscope forgeographicaldescriptions sensi- vio,tradotto etcommentati. . . (de'Francheschi & Chrieger,
tiveto theunityofhumanlifeand theearthon which Venezia)
itis lived. BERMAN,M. (1983) All thatis solidmeltsintoair: the
I suggestthattheModernistbeliefinlinearreason- experienceofmodernity (Verso,London)
and BRUSATIN, M. (1980) 'La macchina comesogettod'arte',
ing progressmay be aberranthistorically and
in Storiad'Italia,
that our relationswith nature over time are Annali,3: 'Scienza e technica'
(Einaudi,
culturally, 31-77
better understood as a constant re-workingby Torino) pp.
BUCHER,B.(1981)Iconandconquest: a structural
analysisof
humansofeternalmoralquestions:ofself,natureand De Bry'sGreatVoyages (Univ.ChicagoPress,Chicago)
society,of theappropriateformswhichhumanlives CASSIRER,E. (1963) The individual and thecosmosin
and institutions shouldtake,ofthewaysinwhichthe Renaissance philosophy (Harper, NewYork)
experiential unityand wholenessof our worldhave CLULEE,N. H. (1988)John Dee'snatural between
philosophy:
been given meaning.As we learn to grasp a new science
andreligion (Routledge, London)
senseoforderbeyondthefragments ofourworldwe COSGROVE,D. (1988)'Thegeometry oflandscape: prac-
recognizethatits only possible mode of represen- ticalandspeculative artsin the16thcentury Venetian
tation is throughimages and metaphor,that our landterritories,'inCOSGROVE,D. & DANIELS,S. (eds)
The iconography of landscape:essayson thesymbolic rep-
philosophy, and indeed our geographies, are endless
resentation,designand useofpastenvironments (Cambridge
reconstructions and re-presentations of the same Univ.Press,Cambridge) pp.245-276
world,constantly differentiated inthemanufacture of COSGROVE,D. andDANIELS,S. (eds)(1989)Theicono-
meaning.In this a geographywhichdescribesour graphyof landscape:essayson thesymbolic representation,
worldtoourselvesisa centralscience.TheRenaissance designand useofpastenvironments (Cambridge Univ.
world pictureboth made and was made by the Press,Cambridge)

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
358 DENIS COSGROVE
COSGROVE, D. (1990) 'Platonism and practicality: Culture,ideologyand politics:essaysfor EricHobsbawm
Venetian hydrology in the late Renaissance', in (Routledge& Kegan Paul,London)176-93
COSGROVE, D. and PETTS, G. (eds) Water,engineering JAMESON,F. (1984) 'Postmodemism, or theculturallogic
and landscape (Belhaven,London) oflatecapitalism', Newleftreview146: 53-92
DEAR, M. (1988) 'The post-modern challenge:reconstruct- JUNG, C. G. (1973) Synchronicity: an acausal connecting
ing humangeography',Trans.Inst.Br. Geogr.N.S. 3: principle(trans.R. F. C. Hull) (Princeton, NJ)
262-74 KOHAK, E. (1984) Theembers and thestars.A philosophical
DEBUS, A. (1978) 'Mathematicsand chemistryin the enquiry intothemoralsenseofnature (ChicagoUniv.Press,
chemicaltextsof theRenaissance',AmbixXV: 1-28 Chicago)
DEE, J. (1564) The hieroglyphic monad (trans. J. W. KUBOVY, M. (1986) Psychology ofperspective inRenaissance
Hamilton-Jones) (JohnWatkins,London) art(Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge)
DEE, J.(1570) 'The MathematicalPraeface',in Theelements LIVINGSTONE, D. N. (1988) 'Science,magicand religion:
of geometrie of the mostauncientphilospher Euclideof a contextualreassessment ofgeographyin thesixteenth
intotheEnlishtoung
translated
(nowfirst) and seventeenth centuries', Hist.Sci.26: 271-302
Megara,faithfully
Citizen
ofLondon (JohnDaye, London) MITCHELL, W. T.
J. (1980) 'Editor's note:thelanguageof
byM. Billingsley,
EDGERTON, S. J.(1975) Therenaissance rediscoveryoflinear images',Criticalinquiry, 6: 359
perspective(Harper& Row, London) PAGDEN, A. (1986) 'The impactof thenew worldon the
old: the historyof an idea', Renaissance Mod. Stud.30:
EDGERTON, S. J.(1987) 'Frommentalmatrixto mappa
mundito Christianempire:the heritageof Ptolomeic 1-11
PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA, G. (1492) On thedignity of
cartographyin the renaissance',in WOODWARD, D.
(ed.) Art and cartography: six historicalessays(Chicago
man;on beingand theone;Heptaplus, (trans.G. G. Wallis,
Univ.Press,Chicago) 1965) (Bobbs Merrill,London)
PUNTER, J.(1988) 'Postmodernism', Plan.Pract.4: 22-8
ELIADE, M. (1978) Theforgeand thecrucible: Originsand
structures Univ.Press, RUSKIN, J. (1903-12) The worksof JohnRuskin(library
ofalchemy (Chicago Chicago)
edition,39 vols) COOK, E. T. & WEDDERBURN, A.
FERRARI, G. (1987) 'Public anatomy lessons and the
carnivalin Bologna',Pastandpresent 117: 50-106 (eds) (JohnAllen,London)
SACK, R. D. (1980) Conceptions of spacein social thought
FULLER, P. (1985) Imagesof God: the consolation of lost
(Macmillan,London)
illusions
(Tigerstripe, London)
SCOTT, J.S. & SIMPSON-HOUSLEY, P. (1989) 'Revitaliz-
FULLER,P. (1988) 'The geographyof mothernature',in
ing the revitalizers:on the postmodernchallenge to
COSGROVE, D. and DANIELS, S. (eds) Theiconography human
and geography',Trans.Inst.Br.Geogr.N.S. 14: 231-6
oflandscape: essaysonthesymbolic design
representation, SOCIETY AND SPACE (1988) Specialissue on cultural
use of past environments, (Cambridge Univ. Press,
geography (6)
Cambridge)pp. 11-31 SMITH, S. (1989) 'Society,space and citizenship: a human
GODWIN, J.(1979) AthanasiusKircher: a Renaissance man
geography forthe "new times"', Trans.Inst.Br. Geogr.
and the questfor lost knowledge(Thames & Hudson, N.S. 14: 144-56
London) TAYLOR, E. G. R. (1930) Tudorgeography1483-1583
GREGORY, D. and LEY,D. (1988) 'Culture'sgeographies', (Methuen,London)
Societyandspace6: 115-6 THOMAS, K. (1983) Man and thenaturalworld.Changing
GROSZ, E. A (1987) 'Feministtheoryand thechallengeto attitudesinEngland1500-1800(AllenLane,London)
knowledges', Women'sstudiesinternational forum10: VICKERS, B. (1984) Occultand scientific in the
mentalities
475-480 Renaissance (CambridgeUniv.Press,Cambridge)
HARDING, S. (1986) The sciencequestionin feminism WESTFALL,R. S. (1980) Neverat rest:a biography ofIsaac
(CornellUniv.Press,Ithaca) Newton(CambridgeUniv.Press,Cambridge)
HARRIES, K. (1979) 'Metaphor and transcendence'in WESTMANN, R. S. (1984) 'Nature,artand psyche:Jung,
SACKS, S (ed) On metaphor(Chicago Univ. Press, Pauli, and the Kepler-Fluddpolemic',in VICKERS, B.
Chicago)pp. 71-88 (ed.) Occultand scientific mentalities in the Renaissance
HARVEY,D (1987) 'Flexibleaccumulation through urbanis- (CambridgeUniv.Press,Cambridge)pp. 177-23
ation:reflections on 'post-modemism'in the American WRIGHT,P. (1975) 'Astrology,andscienceinseventeenth-
city',Antipode 19: 260-86 centuryEngland',SocialStud.Sci.5: 399-422
HARVEY, D. (1989) The conditionof postmodernityYATES, F. (1966) Theartofmemory (Routledge& Kegan
(Blackwell,Oxford) Paul,London)
HEFFERNAN, M. (1989) 'The limitsof utopia: Henri YATES, F. (1979) Theoccultphilosophy intheElizabethan age
Duverier and the Explorationof the Sahara in the (Routledge& Kegan Paul,London)
nineteenth century', Geogr.J.155: 342-52 ZIMMERMAN, R. E. (1984) 'The structure of mythos:on
HILL,C. (1983) 'Scienceand magicin seventeenth-century the culturalstabilityof alchemy',Ambix XXXI: (3)
England',in SAMUEL, R. & STEDMAN-JONES, G., 125-36

This content downloaded from 149.150.51.237 on Sun, 05 Apr 2015 15:37:18 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions