Twenty-One Acres of Common Ground: A Philosophical Memoir

Abstract

Having purchased a moldy, concrete-walled underground house built in the 1970s on a 21-acre parcel infested with invasive plants but overlooking a national scenic river, a philosophy professor and his wife undertake a decades-long effort they didn’t predict. In this memoir, still in manuscript form, Daniel Fouke looks back at their first day on the land and recounts the journey. He writes, “Since I am a professional philosopher who has concentrated on environmental philosophy in the later part of my career, I will both provide a narrative of our journey and attempt to describe the philosophical lessons I’ve drawn from it—lessons about what we are, the nature of this amazing planet, and where we fit in its rare and precious system of life. Much of what I say will, I’m afraid, be tinged with sadness about what we have done, how we have fashioned ourselves, and what we are losing. However sad these things make me, I write this book in the hope that we can find a way to change, understand our place in the natural order, and discover a more constructive and wise path forward.”https://ecommons.udayton.edu/books/1043/thumbnail.jp