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- Title
The Classical Greek Theory of Natural Resource Economics.
- Authors
Lowry, S.T.
- Abstract
In any discussion of self conscious and formal presentations of ancient Greek theories of natural resources, the analysis may be justifiably limited to the works of Xenophon and Aristotle. These two authors are the two prime sources of clear formal statements, and also represent the surviving stream of conservative Greek thought that was so influential in moulding European ideas after the Renaissance. The opposing line of Greek thought, that of the Sophists, though possibly representing a majority of the educated Greeks for a short period in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries, B.C., is represented in surviving literature mostly by derogations of their amoral, irreligious "sophisticated" approach which stressed political technology rather than theory. These Sophists tend to be represented in European literature by men like Machiavelli. The theoretical line of Greek thought is primarily a belief in natural order and theory. It therefore consists of an attempt to understand and abstract the true nature of this natural order. This approach achieves significance only when coupled with a presumption of man as both natural in his social as well as physiological patterns of life, but also capable of transgression, or deviation from the natural. Otherwise, knowledge would just involve understanding what man was bound to do regardless of his grasp of the consequences. This makes it important to understand nature and avoid unnecessary deviations from principles of natural process.
- Subjects
GREECE; NATURAL resources; CONSERVATION of natural resources; ECONOMICS; ENVIRONMENTAL economics; ENVIRONMENTAL policy; NATURE
- Publication
Land Economics, 1965, Vol 41, Issue 3, p203
- ISSN
0023-7639
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/3144852