Natures and norms

* The main stimulus for the reconsideration of "natures" that is the subject of this article was some sharp questioning from Marilyn Frye when I delivered a lecture at the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, N.C., in 1998, when she was a fellow in residence. I thank her heartily. I presented an early version of this work at the Martha Nussbaum Named Seminar at the Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University in Canberra, ACT, Australia, in June 1999, and I'd like to thank my fellow participants in that seminar for their very helpful feedback. (Nussbaum herself was not able to attend my session, and so she did not, unfortunately, have the opportunity to correct any misunderstandings of her view that I may have.) I'd also like to thank Robert Goodin, Richard Rorty, and, especially, Joe Levine for stimulating discussion of these topics and John Deigh for his helpful comments on an earlier draft.