Newtonian passive-matter physics sanctioned nature’s domination for economic development.
Evidence
Moreover, its conceptual framework, emphasizing external force and passive matter divided into rearrangeable components, could provide a subtle sanction for the domination and manipulation of nature necessary to progressive economic development. If eventually the religious framework providing for God’s constant care and for the attainment of human grace were removed, as it was in the eighteenth century, the possibilities for intellectual arrogance toward nature would be strengthened. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 1028
Categorization
- XREF: This is the exact causal link (mechanistic metaphor licenses exploitation) the reader’s polyad needs from ecofeminist history. — connects to: Mechanism’s view of dead passive matter sanctioned nature’s exploitation — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 444; Severing the organic bond turned nature from partner into passive object — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 514; Assetization analysis reveals how nature and society get incorporated into financialized capitalism. — Paul Langley, Assets and Assetization in…, 43 (+6 more)
Broader Connections
- Scientific rationalism becomes an instrument of social domination
#expands(0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 141 - Newtonian science shaped a mechanical worldview of human reason
#expands(0.85) — Richard A. Posner, What Has Pragmatism to Offer Law?, 22 - Controlling nature and controlling humans advance together within science
#expands(0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 614 - Mechanistic reduction extends nature’s instrumentalisation to humans rather than ending dualism
#complicates(0.75) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 458 - Human mastery over nature dialectically increases human dependency on matter.
#complicates(0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 495 - Assetization analysis reveals how nature and society get incorporated into financialized capitalism.
#expands(0.70) — Paul Langley, Assets and Assetization in…, 43