The term ‘nature’ is something like a chameleon of meanings and is accordingly easily misused. In his short essay, Mill vigorously rejects claims that something is 'natural' and therefore good (i.e., the 'natural qualities of man and woman' or 'natural' law). Rather, he is interested in normative principles: It is the supreme duty of man as an individual and as a species to moralize nature. For man's duty is not to follow the outer or inner instinctive nature, but to improve both inner and outer nature through cultivation—an approach that takes on new relevance in times of threatened nature and ecological problems.
