From Describing Nature to Prescribing Society
I spend way too much time thinking about the word “nature.”
Some old German guy called Friedrich called the idea of nature the “little chameleon.”
In political thought, “nature” is never just a neutral backdrop—it is a moral reservoir. Across ideological traditions, accounts of what nature is routinely become arguments about what society ought to be. But not all so-called appeals to nature function the same way. Some look to nature as order, some as force, and others as constraint, tradition, or ecology. Each one carries its own logic of truth-telling and normativity.
It’s not just all “lobsters have cortisol that has something to do with hierarchies, so men should run society again,” like Jordan Peterson so famously claims.
What follows is a comparative typology of how different political traditions—especially on the Right—derive normative prescriptions from different conceptions of nature.
1. Classic Nature as Order and Purpose
Nature is rational, eternal, and hierarchical. Everything has a proper end (telos), and moral life consists in aligning with it. The social order should mirror this cosmic order: elites rule because reason should govern appetite; tradition persists because it reflects timeless truths.
Moral logic: Virtue is alignment with moral order
Politics: Hierarchical, tradition-bound, governed by moral elites
Change: Organic, slow, anti-revolutionary
Truth Teller: The Sage, guardian of wisdom and tradition
Examples: J.D. Vance, Ross Douthat, and Adrian Vermeule. The Catholic Right.
2. Romantic Nature as Vital Force
Here, nature is not harmonious but fecund, wild, and generative. It destroys sterile rationalism and modern mediocrity. The moral ideal is vitality: to live intensely, authentically, in accord with myth and instinct. Societies decay when they suppress this force. Nature is very gendered.
Moral logic: Goodness is expressive intensity, not conformity
Politics: Heroic, mythic, spiritually charged
Change: Explosive, cyclical, often regenerative through crisis
Truth Teller: The Prophet, interpreter of divine will
Examples: Bronze Age Pervert and Joe Rogan. The weightlifting and tradwife-right.
3. Real Nature as Constraint
Nature here is a system of empirical regularities—biological, psychological, and behavioral. Human nature is limited, and morality consists in recognizing and adapting to these limits. Social policies must be realistic, not utopian.
Moral logic: Prudence and realism in the face of limits
Politics: Stratified, technocratic, cautious about reform
Change: Slow, managed, skeptical of egalitarianism
Truth Teller: The Teacher, transmitter of rational, methodical knowledge
Examples: Marco Rubio and George Bush. The neoconservatives.
3a. Darwin’s Nature as Evolutionary Verdict
In this variation, nature isn’t just constraint—it’s a competitive process. Evolution doesn’t just describe life; it judges it. Strength, adaptability, and success become moral goods. Weakness is not a problem to fix but an error to phase out.
Moral logic: Success reveals moral worth
Politics: Competitive, elitist, anti-egalitarian
Change: Driven by selection, often accelerationist, stagnation is awful
Truth Teller: The Teacher-Prophet, transmitter of rational, methodical visions
Examples: Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Charles Murray. The tech-right.
4. Ethnic Nature as Inherited Tradition
Nature is the lived moral ecology of a people—rooted in land, history, and custom. Universalism is seen as uprooting; multiculturalism as decay. The moral subject is one who preserves and transmits tradition. Nature is very racialized and antisemitic.
Moral logic: Fidelity to one’s culture and ancestors
Politics: Nationalist, traditionalist, often populist
Change: Degenerative if too rapid; continuity preferred
Truth Teller: The Parrhesiast, courageous speaker of personal, risky truth
Examples: Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, and Alexandr Dugin. The paleoconservatives and “hardcore MAGA.”
5. Ecological Nature as Relational System
This view sees nature as a metabolic, co-constitutive system—made up of interdependent processes. Morality is mutualism, care, and feedback sensitivity. Ecological crisis is moral crisis; domination over nature is linked to social domination.
Moral logic: Ethical responsibility to relational systems
Politics: Decentralized, cooperative, sustainable
Change: Progressive and adaptive, but complexity-aware
Truth Teller: The Sage, guardian of wisdom and tradition
Examples: Donna Haraway, Murray Bookchin, and Audrey Tang.
These paradigms don’t just differ in content—they embody different styles of truth-telling, different relationships to science, religion, tradition, and experience. Some see nature as something to obey (Classicist), others as something to unleash (Romantic), others as something to map and manage (Realist), or preserve (Ethno-cultural), or heal through systemic transformation (Ecological Left). All contrast directly with our humanistic modern world.
Understanding these frameworks helps clarify why political actors talk about nature at all—not to describe the world, but to anchor moral and political claims in what feels real.