Ecological Rhetoric through Vicarious Narrative: The Enduring Significance of Garrett Hardin's The Tragedy of the Commons

“The Tragedy of the Commons,” a 1968 article on overpopulation by Garrett Hardin, achieved rapid and widespread popularity, and still remains influential. Hardin uses an extended hypothetical example that functions as a vicarious narrative to postulate a syllogistic proof he then applies enthymematically and by analogy to social and environmental issues. Although Hardin's inconsistent application of his analogy reveals that adopting his rhetorical strategy in environmental communication necessitates acceptance of neither Hardin's overpopulation thesis nor his political and social views, his article remains a landmark in environmental as well as ecological rhetoric.