Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2018, Political Science (Arts and Sciences)

Thomas Hobbes uses a metaphor about mushrooms to define humans in the state of nature. In light of recent research regarding mycorrhizal fungi, this thesis examines the descriptive and prescriptive implications of a civil society structured as though people were truly like mushrooms. By drawing upon the intersection between political theory and ecology, this thought experiment has profound implications for creating a society where harmony is maintained through a sustainable balance of conflict in order to guarantee the shared flourishing of human, nonhuman, and nonliving components of the environment.

Committee: Julie White (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Philosophy; Philosophy; Political Science