Val Plumwood

Val Plumwood (11 August 1939 – 29 February 2008) was an Australian philosopher and ecofeminist, recognized for her influential contributions to environmental philosophy and ecofeminism. Her work critically examined anthropocentrism and the dualistic thinking prevalent in Western philosophy, particularly the separation of humans from nature, which she termed the "standpoint of mastery." Plumwood argued that this dualism underpins various forms of domination, including sexism, racism, and the exploitation of the environment. She advocated for an ecological ethic that recognizes continuities and interdependencies between humans and the natural world, rejecting both radical separation and overly merged views of self and nature. A significant event in her life was a near-fatal encounter with a saltwater crocodile in 1985, which profoundly shaped her understanding of vulnerability and our place within the food chain, detailed in her essay "Being Prey." Throughout her career, she held academic positions at various universities and was an independent scholar, authoring significant works like "Feminism and the Mastery of Nature" and "Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason."