Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature is a very interesting environmental text. He uses writing techniques such as metaphor to describe the relationship between the human mind and Nature. From my understanding, he creates this idea of biocentrism. From Buell’s Glossary of Selected Terms, biocentrism is defined as “the view that all organisms, including humans, are part of a larger biotic web or network or community whose interests must constrain or direct or govern the human interest” (Buell, p.1). For me, this is the main point that Emerson was trying to make in his essay. Emerson’s idea of this connection between humanity and Nature, or the “Me” and the “Not Me”,  is discussed throughout the text and he creates a significant amount of mental imagery to explain how these two things are connected.

           Emerson makes a point that humans must learn to appreciate the environment before he can become a naturalist. He mentions in Chapter Eight: Prospects that restoration of the world’s original and eternal beauty requires “redemption of the soul”. He goes further into this and explains that the world “lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps…because man is disunited with himself” (Emerson, p. 54). What Emerson means is that in order for man to truly see the beauty of Nature, he must connect with and appreciate himself and what he has and only then will he truly satisfy “all the demands of the spirit” and become a naturalist (p. 54). From my perceptive, a naturalist is a human being that appreciates and understands the connection between him or her and the environment. My belief is that the point Emerson is making in Nature is not to adopt an ecocentric outlook of life but a biocentric one.

            The very last passage of “Prospects” brings for this idea of biocentrism to light in Emerson’s writing. He explains that “Nature is not fixed, but fluid. Spirit alters, moulds and makes it” (p. 54). I’m not sure exactly what Emerson means by “Spirit”. Does he mean the human spirit? Like what makes us who we are? That’s what I’ve taken from the text because Emerson goes further and mentions that “Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world; a heaven…the world exists for you” (p.55). The author is making a point throughout this essay that the world is what we, as human beings, make of it but we must also consider the effects our actions have on ourselves, the environment, and Nature as a whole.

            Emerson’s essay fits incredibly with Buell’s characteristics of environmental text because he gives the nonhuman environment a proper name, Nature, and suggests that humanity and nature are both connected. He also suggests that the environment is a process, not a constant, and human life has to realize that their interest is not the only interest because Nature is shaped by human’s actions. Emerson supports a biocentric model of life where humanity and Nature can coexist but only when man reconnects with himself and Nature.