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Molly McDonough

ENG 110.009

Professor Molly Hall

April 18, 2016

Science and Inhumanism

Science, by Robinson Jeffers is a poem that illustrates Jeffers perspective on humans

as a collective species by examining their relationships to science and nature. Jeffers personal

philosophy of inhumanism is reflected throughout the poem. This philosophy calls on humans to

change their mindsets by decentering their attention away from themselves and, instead, focusing

on the world around them. The entire poem serves as one big warning that a destruction at our

own hands is inevitable unless we adopt this philosophy. If we ignore Jeffers warning about our

continued selfishness, the consequences for humans as well as the world could be severe. In this

way, Jeffers warning serves as a call to action for humans to change the way they view the

world and their place in it, which could have significant scientific, political, and environmental

implications.

The word inhumanism itself has a negative connotation, evoking a sense of something

cruel and non-human. However, this wasnt Jeffers intent when he coined the term. Simply put,

inhumanism was meant to be the opposite of humanism, a philosophy that became wildly

popular during the Renaissance and focused on the celebration of the vast capabilities of man

(Carpenter 20). In Jeffers own words, inhumanism is the philosophical shifting of emphasis

and significance from man to not-man, (Carpenter 19). Jeffers felt it was imperative for

humans to stop seeing themselves as the center of the universe and instead, begin to see

themselves as merely a small part of a bigger transhuman (Chapman 34) world. He further
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described this philosophy as a new attitude, a new manner of thought and feeling,(Chapman

33) that put significant emphasis on nature and the environment. He felt it was imperative to

refocus or attention away from traditional ways of thinking in order to adopt a new, evolved way

of thinking. This shifting of emphasis from internal (self) to external (nature) is a sentiment that

is reiterated throughout Jeffers poem Science.

In the very first line of Science, Jeffers refers to man as introverted, (Jeffers 1). For

many, the word introverted is usually associated with a person who is very shy and doesnt like

to socialize much. However, introversion is actually defined as anyone who is overly concerned

with themselves and their feelings. In short, a selfish person. I find it interesting that, right away,

Jeffers is starting out the poem by telling us that man is selfish. By doing this, he is establishing

the main conflict of the poem, making us, as readers, well aware that the problem with society

today is its self-indulgence and inability to see beyond what is happening in the present.

In the next part of the poem, Jeffers describes all the advancements in technology humans

have made in the past few years alone. He says during this time, man has begot giants (Jeffers

4). I find this line to be fairly significant because it reveals Jeffers true opinion about man. By

definition begot means to create or sire. I dont think Jeffers is literally saying that man created

giants, as giants are, in the most commonly acknowledged sense, mythical creatures of fairytales.

Instead, I think he uses the word giants here to simply describe people who are very powerful

and successful. In this way, he is acknowledging how advancements in technology have caused

man to become even more powerful and successful than ever before. This power, which stems

from increased knowledge and technology, can be directly related to the newfound violence and

self-importance of society. Jeffers describes man as a maniac with self-love(Jeffers 5)

indicating that this new knowledge has resulted in mans obsession with progress for his own
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sake, to satisfy his own selfish needs, which so often includes violence and a blatant disregard

for the consequences of these actions. This begs the question of whether we are limited in our

knowledge due to our own selfishness. Jeffers believed that if we could see a world beyond

ourselves, the knowledge we would have access to would be limitless.

In the poem Science, Jeffers also questions whether humans are able to fully

understand all the things they have created using new technologies. He believes man cannot

manage his hybrids,(Jeffers 5-6). In this case, I think that Jeffers is saying that humans have

taken great strides in what has been made possible through technology. However, the long term

effects of some of these new technologies are not known, and often times are brushed aside

because they are not a concern of the present. Again, Jeffers is reiterating that because man is

only concerned with himself, he cannot seem to look beyond his present need for things to see

how actions in the present can have severe consequences in the future. It should also be noted

that because of this tunnel vision, its hard for humans to see how something may be beneficial

in the future because of its perceived lack of benefits in the present. This tunnel vision limits our

knowledge to advancements that only have immediate results. Jeffers believed that if we could

just see beyond these limitations, the possibility for true, unadulterated advancement is endless.

According to Jeffers, the only way to reject this new identity of man is to change the way we

think by falling in love outward with the enormous beauty of the unhuman universe,(Scott

153) as opposed to falling in love inward with ourselves. If we are able to do this, then a

destruction at our own hands may be avoidable.

Jeffers philosophy of inhumanism focuses primarily on the beauty of nature and how

man has come to be blinded to this beauty. In the poem Science, Jeffers says that man has

bred knives on nature turns them also inward: they have thirsty points though (Jeffers 8-9).
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This is where Jeffers finally points to the devastation that humans have inflicted upon the

environment. By harming nature, we are also harming ourselves, which he describes by creating

an image of a double-edged sword. Again, hes showing that because of our selfishness, we are

blind to the destruction that our technology causes and even our role in causing it (Scott 151). If

we do not change our ways, we may destroy the environment completely, which would result in

our own destruction as well. Jeffers acknowledges that the mind of man, brilliant in terms of

capabilities, forbodes (Jeffers 10) its destruction, and yet, despite these capabilities, or maybe

because of them, cannot see that there is a simple solution to this problem. I think Jeffers is

showing that sometimes the human mind is too great for its own good, trying to search for

solutions to the present problems by using the science and very technology that got us into this

trouble in the first place. Its hard to see that the solution, a renewed emphasis on the

environment, is simple.

Despite the apparent simplicity of the solution, it is human nature to be selfish, and

therein lies the problem. As one critic, Robert Scott, put it, its hard to escape these delusions of

self-importance when we still view the world in a very self-centered way. For example, the

phrases sunrise and sunset are still used even though its been common knowledge for some time

that the earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around (Scott 159). Its little things like

this that make breaking free from our selfish tendencies seem like such a monumental task.

However, its of supreme importance that we learn and grow from the mistakes of the past

because if we dont, we will undoubtedly cause our own demise.

Jeffers uses the Greek myth of Actaeon to drive home this potential for self-destruction.

Actaeon was a hunter who accidentally saw Artemis naked as she was bathing in the woods. As

punishment, Artemis made it so that if Actaeon tried to speak, he would be transformed into a
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stag. Upon hearing his hunting party call out looking for him, he answered and was turned into a

stag. Actaeon was then hunted down by the very hounds he had trained, and torn apart by them.

It was due to his own foolish actions, speaking when he knew the consequences of doing so, that

Actaeon met his own untimely demise. The hounds that he had trained to be the best, and for

which he was extremely proud, ended up being his own undoing. Jeffers uses this allusion to

show that some actions have consequences that cannot be undone, in particular the harming of

nature and the environment. These actions, which may seem insignificant in the moment, have

the potential to come back and destroy us in the end. If we learn to change our ways and begin to

treat nature as our equal and not something that we can manipulate and control for our own

gains, then there is hope for our future. However, if we do not, our fate may not be all that

different from Actaeons.

Perhaps the most important line of the entire poem is the very last one. The last line

reads, who would have dreamed this infinitely little too much (Jeffers 14-15). I think its

important to note that Jeffers closed the poem with a paradox. This was done deliberately to

leave the reader pondering what the meaning may be. Upon reading the last line for the first

time, it didnt seem to make any sense. Infinity, by definition, means endless. How could

something be endlessly little but also too much? It seems nonsensical. However, this is the

function of the paradox. What Jeffers is really saying is that the advancements that have been

made in science and technology, although seemingly great, are actually quite small when you

think of the potential to improve even more. There is no limit to the knowledge that is out there,

and it seems only fitting to assume that weve only just scratched the surface of what could be.

Limitation in knowledge is introduced by our selfish minds. However, even these small

advancements have proven to be too much because they are causing a selfish species to become
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even more selfish and self-centered. This little bit has blinded us to the harm that we are causing,

and unless we can learn to see again, may result in a disastrous end.

Jeffers firmly believed that unless humans learned to adopt his philosophy, a philosophy

in which the main emphasis was for humans to think of themselves as only a part of a larger

transhuman world and not the center of it, a future that ended in self-destruction was absolute.

The difficulty with this philosophy is the requirement for such a dramatic shift in humanitys

sense of self and purpose (Chapman 34) that is so unlike anything that had been experienced

before. However, the successful adoption of this philosophy could have endless benefits for

society today. If Jeffers is to be taken seriously, then his warning serves to have a significant

impact on science, politics, and the environment.

I think we can already see how science has changed and evolved over the past few years

by turning to more green, eco-friendly alternatives. Jeffers wanted desperately for humans to use

the immense capabilities of the mind to help the environment instead of hurting it, and I think

were beginning to take steps in that direction, although it is a little more slow-going than it

should be. I also think that, as a country, we need to put our support in leaders who are looking

out for the best interests of us as people as well as the environment. Its hard to get anything

accomplished without proper backing and support so having leaders who already value these

principles would serve to aid in these efforts. However, the most significant impact is on the

environment. While its true that we have done irreparable damage, steps can be taken to stop

any further damage. The most important of these steps being the evolution of our role in the

universe so that we can learn to see that every action is connected and has consequences. If we

are going to preserve the environment, and through extension ourselves, these steps must be
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taken, even though they may not necessarily suite our needs or desires. We must learn to respect

the environment by learning to be less selfish.

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Works Cited

Scott, Robert. Robinson Jeffers Tragedies as Rediscoveries of the World. Rocky Mountain

Review of Language and Literature 29.3-4 (1975):147-165. Print.

Chapman, Steven. On the Question of Science in The Inhumanist. Jeffers Studies 8.2 (2004):

31-61. Print.

Carpenter, Frederic. The Inhumanism of Robinson Jeffers. Western American Literature 16.1

(1981): 19-25. Print.

Jeffers, Robinson. Science. Collected Poems. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. 45.

Print.