Following Nature’s Lead: Ancient Ways of Living in a Dying World

Classicist Usher (Univ. of Vermont) has made something of a specialty of applying ancient wisdom to present conundrums, with books such as How To Say No: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Cynicism. Here he takes on a far more ambitious subject: the survival and flourishing of human life on Earth. With Greek and Roman philosophy and thought being so foundational to European and American civilizations, he reasons, why not see what this ancient wisdom has to say about things such as not overtaxing resources, creating a sustainable life, and addressing an economy that can’t go on growing forever. As it turns out, Lucretius, Plato, and Diogenes have a great deal to say, and Usher puts them into dialogue with more recent thinkers to demonstrate the applicability of his premise. These constitute the strongest portions of the book; some early throat-clearing around the definition of indigeneity feels misplaced, except to emphasize the ancient Greeks’ and Romans’ own intimate relationships with their environment.