When addressing the question of “Who Owns Nature,” Ned Hettinger said he believes Earth and nature were not created for us to use and exploit but was independently formed on its own without that purpose.

A crowd of about 150 people attended a debate Wednesday afternoon in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Hettinger, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at the College of Charleston, and Jan Narveson, a professor of philosophy at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, debated this question.

Gary Comstock, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at Iowa State, was the mediator. Hettinger said to understand the owner of nature people must first understand their place in the natural world. He addressed two views on ownership of the natural world.

The first view is absolute ownership by humans, which is rooted in the Judeo-Christian view that dominion over the animals and the earth belongs to humans, Hettinger said.

This view of ownership and dominion, Hettinger said, is plainly stated in philosopher John Locke’s view on ownership of nature. He said Locke’s view was that unowned and undeveloped land is a waste unless it is transformed by humans.

The other perspective Hettinger brought up was illustrated by the native North American view on ownership of nature. Hettinger said in this view, “owning the earth is like owning your mother [from which you came].”

He said this view sees “land as a community to which we belong.” Hettinger said ownership of land is as much about taking care of the land as it is taking control of the land. Hettinger said he is not against persons owning private property, but he is in favor of implementing heavy regulations on what can and cannot be done with it. He justified this view by saying land is in public trust and our land is a global treasure. Hettinger added that if developing countries cannot protect land and resources from exploitation, then other countries who have the resources must come to help them. Partial control and ownership of land is essential, he said.