ABSTRACT

Any reconstruction of the stewardship ethic presupposes a careful review of the philosophical roots of traditional conceptions. This chapter exposes key weaknesses in the agrarian outlook, agrarian stewardship deserves more careful discussion in the general literature of environmental ethics precisely because it is subservient to production. The folklore of stewardship is reinforced by selective tenets of Judeo-Christian religions. The chapter explores the treatment of stewardship in the literature of environmental ethics and compares that notion with the agrarian conception. Wendell Berry describes an ecology of virtues that integrates stewardship with citizenship, industriousness, community, and family. The chapter focuses on Berry's expropriation of Thomas Jefferson's ideas and of Jefferson's generally favorable reputation among white Americans. For Berry as for traditional agriculture, good farmers respect nature and harmonize their farming with the ecology of soil, water and the broader environment. Good farmers are loyal citizens, hard workers, reliable neighbors and loving parents or children, in addition to being good stewards.