William Cronon The Trouble With Wilderness

William Cronon’s essay entitled “The Trouble with Wilderness” is an intelligent and thoughtful work of environmental philosophy that addresses the relationship between nature and man while defining and contextualizing the idea of wilderness. Cronon argues that we must change the way that we think about wilderness. With this idea of man’s perspective of wilderness, Cronon goes on to describe the ways in which man has looked at wilderness throughout history. From a state of fear and intimidation, to one of romanticism and awe, and finally to a state of escape and adventure; the way in which people view wilderness is constantly shifting- therefore the actual definition of wilderness is also shifting. This constant change has created a unique relationship …show more content…
His tone throughout this piece is very didactic and objective- conveying a message that is not impacted by emotion or personal sentiments but rather is informative and academic in structure and presentation. This being said, it is not a scientific piece like many other environmentally concerned works. Rather, it is philosophical and conceptual and could even be considered abstract. Cronon does not use statistics and facts to support his argument but rather produces ideas and theories- both his own and those shared by others. Cronon utilizes various “others” as sources to help support his claims. He describes William Wordsworth’s fear when confronted by the immensity and grandeur of the Alps, Thoreau’s complete awe of the serious dignity of Mt. Katahdin, and the tranquility John Muir discovered within the Sierra Mountains. He quotes more recent sources such as Bill McKibben and Dave Foreman to comment on the states of the environment and how people relate with nature. Through these citations and others, Cronon pieces together the various fragments of his argument and supports each idea by creating a strong backing by other authors and