RG XXI: Study Group on Values in Nature and the Environment

Historical Note

The Study Group on Environmental Ethics (variously referred to internally as Man and Nature, later Wilderness, or Values in Nature and the Environment) was active from 1974-1983. During an earlier project, Human Values, Systems Analysis, and the Environment (aka Research Needs Concerning the Incorporation of Human Values into Environmental Decision-Making), it was realized little work had been done on perceptions of man and nature. This study group intended to illuminate current American attitudes about man and nature, and to a certain extent, their significance for policy, by tracing their origin and development. A planning meeting, "Environmental Ethics" was held on December 18, 1975. In 1978 Roderick Nash prepared a prospectus, "The Nature of Wildness: The Need for a Philosophy", intended to guide the discussion. Workshops were held in January 1980 and 1981. A publication Nature and Environment: Values and Choice was drafted, but never published. 

Funding was provided by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation and by the Russell Sage Foundation.

Scope and Content

The series is contained within the Academy Archives’ Record Group XXI: Academy Projects and Programs. It contains the administrative and project records of the Academy relating to the Study Group, from 1974-1983, with a very small group of records from 1989. The majority of the records were created or received from 1975-1981 by the Executive office of the Academy, including Corrine Schelling and John Voss. Records primarily include transcripts of meetings and correspondence with meeting participants, and grantors. Of particular note is the unpublished draft manuscript

See related records RG XXI: Academy Projects and Programs - Committee on Human Values, Systems Analysis, and the Environment.

Arrangement

Processing for the series utilized MPLP principles, thus minimum preservation steps were taken, and folder titles listed in the finding aid are as they appear on the actual folders. Records were held by the Executive Office of John Voss. Some files were kept out of the filing scheme and have been interfiled where appropriate. 

This series is arranged chronologically with no subseries.

Volume

2 records center cartons (1.5 linear feet)

Preferred Citation

[Item title, date]. Record Group XXI: Academy Projects – Study Group on Values in Nature and the Environment / Environmental Ethics / Man and Nature / Wilderness, 1974-1983, 1989. Archives, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Subjects

Nash, Roderick
Schelling, Corinne Saposs
Voss, John, 1917-
Henry P. Kendall Foundation
Russell Sage Foundation
Ecology--Philosophy
Environmental ethics
Nature