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Ontology and ethics at the intersection of phenomenology and environmental philosophy
Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy
Abstract
The idea inspiring the eco-phenomenological movement is that phenomenology can help remedy our environmental crisis by uprooting and replacing environmentally-destructive ethical and metaphysical presuppositions inherited from modern philosophy. Eco-phenomenology's critiques of subject/object dualism and the fact/value divide are sketched and its positive alternatives examined. Two competing approaches are discerned within the eco-phenomenological movement: Nietzscheans and Husserlians propose a naturalistic ethical realism in which good and bad are ultimately matters of fact, and values should be grounded in these proto-ethical facts; Heideggerians and Levinasians articulate a transcendental ethical realism according to which we discover what really matters when we are appropriately open to the environment, but what we thereby discover is a transcendental source of meaning that cannot be reduced to facts, values, or entities of any kind. These two species of ethical realism generate different kinds of ethical perfectionism: naturalistic ethical realism yields an eco-centric perfectionism which stresses the flourishing of life in general; transcendental ethical realism leads to a more 'humanistic' perfectionism which emphasizes the cultivation of distinctive traits of Dasein. Both approaches are examined, and the Heideggerian strand of the humanistic approach defended, since it approaches the best elements of the eco-centric view while avoiding its problematic ontological assumptions and anti-humanistic implications.
... By taking recourse to Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, phenomenologists put forth that we never discover value from nature, rather our relational value of nature emerges out of our everyday engagements in our life-world. As Thomson (2004) underlines, the principal objective of ecophenomenology is to substitute some of the deeply ingrained environmentally harmful ethical and metaphysical presuppositions in the modern philosophical tradition that separates us from nature and constructs an atomic self. By exposing these presuppositions of the postmodern narrative of nature in which fact-value dualism and mind-world dualism are deeply embedded, ecophenomenology promises to bring a shift in our understanding about ourselves as well as our place on Earth (Thomson, 2004;Toadvine, 2005). ...
... As Thomson (2004) underlines, the principal objective of ecophenomenology is to substitute some of the deeply ingrained environmentally harmful ethical and metaphysical presuppositions in the modern philosophical tradition that separates us from nature and constructs an atomic self. By exposing these presuppositions of the postmodern narrative of nature in which fact-value dualism and mind-world dualism are deeply embedded, ecophenomenology promises to bring a shift in our understanding about ourselves as well as our place on Earth (Thomson, 2004;Toadvine, 2005). Thomson (2004) elaborates that in the development of ecophenomenology, we can witness two types of ethical realism. ...
... By exposing these presuppositions of the postmodern narrative of nature in which fact-value dualism and mind-world dualism are deeply embedded, ecophenomenology promises to bring a shift in our understanding about ourselves as well as our place on Earth (Thomson, 2004;Toadvine, 2005). Thomson (2004) elaborates that in the development of ecophenomenology, we can witness two types of ethical realism. Following Husserl, there is a naturalistic ethical realism; ecophenomenologists like Brown illustrate, naturalistic ethical realism differentiates good from real and acknowledges that within our pre-reflective experiences, we find our world infused with values. ...
... This furthermore relates to eco-phenomenology. Thomson (2004) suggests that eco-phenomenology's positive project seeks to restore meaning to the term the post-modern relationship to the environment, thus to undercut and replace the conceptual roots of environmental crisis with ethical and metaphysical principles of environmental philosophy. There are, however, two distinguished forms, a transcendental or naturalistic ethical realism, respectively. ...
... There are, however, two distinguished forms, a transcendental or naturalistic ethical realism, respectively. Thomson (2004) maintains that the transcendental realism can bring about a new understanding of our place in our world, by means of experience rather than ethical facts. Lund's (2005, 30) examination reflects this idea, suggesting that involvement and experience come prior to any objectification taking place: ...
... It may be that because sea-kayaking uniquely provides lengthy embodied immersion with the sea, a more profound understanding of the human interconnectedness with the sea-environment is possible. Thomson's (2004) insights on eco-phenomenlogy and the trancendental perspective of lived experience and mind-body-word unity may be a valuable perspective to explore emerging types of embodied ecological connections or lived experiences in future outdoor research. ...
This paper aims to explore interconnections of outdoor activities and subjective wellbeing by investigating sea-kayaking, dynamic forms of vitality, salutogenesis and Integrated Quality of Life (IQOL). The research was participatory and based on in-depth qualitative interviews, during and after a seven-day sea-kayaking journey. It took place in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland 2018 among a group of six outdoor education undergraduate students. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to identify sea-kayakers lived nature-experiences in an inductive manner. Forms of vitality in the sea-environment influence embodied sensory perceptions and emotional/affective states. Yet each situation and the responses they cause appear highly subjective. This study suggests that sea-kayaking has vitalizing implications on subjective wellbeing, yet experiences also contain ambiguities and negative feelings. The embeddedness in dynamic, ecological connections at sea, provides constructive potentials and opportunities for the development of wellbeing.
... Indeed, foundational deep ecological thinkers such as Naess and Devall called for an eco-phenomenology (Brook 2005;Brown and Toadvine 2012), and I would like to discuss such calls here, in an attempt to re-humanise (or re-post-humanise) environmental thought. The very issues which have been discussed in previous chapters, in fact, are very close to the interests of early phenomenologists, who were originally inspired to examine the implications of dualistic (often scientific) abstraction away from experience (Brown and Toadvine 2012;Thomson 2004). 8 Indeed, in spite of the strangeness of the term 'phenomenology' for anyone unfamiliar with it, the roots of the environmental movement can be said to be steeped in the insights of this philosophical school. ...
... I would, then, encourage readers to seek out eco-phenomenological thought and examine the nuanced differences that exist amongst phenomenological thinkers (e.g. see Thomson [2004] for an excellent discussion), making up their own minds on the issue, as this sketch of it has been limited by space constraints. I have attempted here, though, to outline broader patterns and links, rather than details, in order to provoke thought (Evernden 1993). ...
... A key theme which links deep ecology and eco-phenomenology is the theme of care, running back as far back as the metaphysical work of Heidegger (Thomson 2004). In more contemporary terms, the nascent shift from seeing ourselves as objects removed from the environment-as instantiated in neoliberal environmentalism (Bakker 2010)-to actual feeling bodies situated within an environment, results in the human animal being seen as 'fields of care' (Brook 2005). ...
This book examines how the way we conceive of, or measure, the environment changes the way we interact with it. It posits that environmentalism and sustainable development have become increasingly post-political, characterised by abstraction, and quantification to an unprecedented extent. As such, the book argues that our ways of measuring both the environment, such as through sustainability metrics like footprints and Payments for Ecosystem Services, and society, through gross domestic product and wellbeing measures, play a constitutive and problematic role in how we conceive of ourselves in the world.
Subsequently, as the quantified environmental approach drives a dualistic wedge between the human and non-human realms, in its final section the book puts forward recent developments in new materialism and feminist ethics of care as providing practical ways of re-founding sustainable development in a way that firmly acknowledges human-ecological relations. This book will be an invaluable reference for scholars and students in the fields of human geography, political ecology, and environmental sociology.
... Indeed, foundational deep ecological thinkers such as Naess and Devall called for an eco-phenomenology (Brook 2005;Brown and Toadvine 2012), and I would like to discuss such calls here, in an attempt to re-humanise (or re-post-humanise) environmental thought. The very issues which have been discussed in previous chapters, in fact, are very close to the interests of early phenomenologists, who were originally inspired to examine the implications of dualistic (often scientific) abstraction away from experience (Brown and Toadvine 2012;Thomson 2004). 8 Indeed, in spite of the strangeness of the term 'phenomenology' for anyone unfamiliar with it, the roots of the environmental movement can be said to be steeped in the insights of this philosophical school. ...
... I would, then, encourage readers to seek out eco-phenomenological thought and examine the nuanced differences that exist amongst phenomenological thinkers (e.g. see Thomson [2004] for an excellent discussion), making up their own minds on the issue, as this sketch of it has been limited by space constraints. I have attempted here, though, to outline broader patterns and links, rather than details, in order to provoke thought (Evernden 1993). ...
... A key theme which links deep ecology and eco-phenomenology is the theme of care, running back as far back as the metaphysical work of Heidegger (Thomson 2004). In more contemporary terms, the nascent shift from seeing ourselves as objects removed from the environment-as instantiated in neoliberal environmentalism (Bakker 2010)-to actual feeling bodies situated within an environment, results in the human animal being seen as 'fields of care' (Brook 2005). ...
This chapter examines how sustainable flourishing could be reconceptualised in ways which do not posit a radical separation of a sovereign and self-knowing human from their material environment. It begins by critically re-focusing on ecocentric and deep ecological streams of early ecological thought, before positing eco-phenomenology, new materialism and care ethics as interrelated posthuman counter-points to quantification trends in sustainable development. These approaches foreground the true basis of sustainable existence: interconnection with the more-than-human world. The latter is no longer seen to be comprised of resources, or ecosystem services, or dead matter on which we can imprint ‘ecological footprints’, but is, rather, a multitude of self-willed and autonomous beings, both living and non-living.
... Furthermore, Thomson (2004) strongly argues that it is extremely important to pay attention to the later Heidegger's crucial notion of 'being as such' and the interpretation of other concepts of his later thoughts in the light of that. He argues that without acknowledging this notion, it is implausible to comprehend later Heidegger's project, entirely. ...
... He asserts that as Heidegger does not clearly explain the notion of being as such, it is only possible to understand it in the context of his other concepts. According to Thomson (2004), the later Heidegger's concept of fourfold and dwelling are the phenomenological way of comprehending being as such, and his call for releasement towards things actually should be read as releasement towards being as such. The fourfold on one hand, demonstrates the phenomenological presencing of things, on the other, dwelling refers to the presencing of things beyond the metaphysical understanding. ...
On one hand, Heidegger is one of the most referenced philosophers in environmental ethics, on the other, there is an ongoing debate regarding the formulation of any kind of ethic based on Heidegger's philosophy as he himself was skeptical about the same. In such context, this review teases out why environmental ethics borrows extensively from Heidegger philosophy and how that in turn provides the necessary underpinnings of different schools of environmental ethics. This essay delineates the import of Heidegger's phenomenology, critique of technology, and post-metaphysical conception of nature, in schools of environmental ethics, particularly, the radical schools like deep ecology. This also highlights that overemphasis on the Heidegger's later work considerably limits the contribution of his philosophy to this discipline and on that note, it concludes that there is a need to bring in the hermeneutic phenomenology of early Heidegger in order to reinterpret his later celebrated concepts in environmental ethics.
... Both human awareness and existence are bound up with being in places and so, it may be argued, what is valuable emerges from the interconnection and interaction of humans in their environment. Some writers have suggested that Heidegger's approach can open the way to an account of intrinsic value in nature (Thomson 2004), and others have explored the idea that there is support for deep ecological insights in his thought (Zimmerman 1994).The recovery, reanimation, and novel application of the work of figures such as Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, and Heidegger might seem to bring a new depth and interest to work in environmental philosophy, but there are also critics of such an approach, which, because of its emphasis on the emotional and spiritual links between humans and nature (Smith 2001, Casey 1993, 1997, Malpas 1999). ...
... Animal welfare is relevant to environmental ethics because animals exist within the natural environment and thus form part of environmentalists' concerns. Essentially, these ethics claim that when we consider how our actions impact on the environment, we should not just evaluate how these affect humans (present and/or future), but also how they affect the interests and rights of animals (Singer 1993, ch. 10, and Regan 1983/2004. For example, even if clearing an area of forest was proven to be of benefit to humans both in the short and long-term that would not be the end of the matter as far as animal ethics are concerned. ...
This article is purported to explore the ethical dimensions of environmental sustainability which has certain philosophical issues. It is argued in the paper that the philosophical import and the ethical grounding for environmental sustainability is based on the conception of nature as an environment rather than that of nature as a mere object for sustenance. Such conception of nature implies the concept of sustainability as a positive value in the society. In the case of nature as environment, nature becomes the natural habitat of man and is always supportive of human existence. The second issue that concerns the present paper pertains to ethical sustainability of environment, which is based on the ethical commitments of average people if adequate environmental protection is to occur. As such, environmental ethics is concerned with the issue of responsible personal conduct with respect to sustainability of natural resources. The ethical issue at present is the recovery of nature or regenerating the nature as an environment rather than as a mere object.
... Heidegger's work has been influential in contemporary environmental philosophy, particularly in radical environmentalism and deep ecology (Thomson, 2004). His emphasis on dwelling and releasement (Gelassenheit) has inspired alternative ecological ethics that move beyond exploitative frameworks (Glazebrook, 2013). ...
Martin Heidegger is widely recognised for his contributions to metaphysics and existentialism, yet his philosophy also offers valuable insights into environmental philosophy. While he did not develop a formal environmental ethic, his critique of Western metaphysics and technology provides a foundation for rethinking humanity's relationship with nature. Rather than adopting a normative ethical approach, Heidegger examines the human-nature relationship from an ontological perspective, arguing that the environmental crisis stems from a metaphysical framework that reduces nature to a mere resource for human exploitation. His concept of techne as a mode of revealing, along with his later reflections on dwelling and releasement, offers an alternative framework for understanding sustainability beyond instrumental rationality. This study employs textual analysis to critically examine Heidegger's environmental philosophy and its relevance to traditional environmental ethics. By highlighting Heidegger's critique of anthropocentrism and technological nihilism, the research explores how his thought contributes to contemporary environmental discourse. Despite concerns regarding his lack of explicit ethical guidance and potential ecofascist interpretations, Heidegger's work remains influential in radical ecology and deep environmental thought. This study ultimately argues that Heidegger's ontology provides a meaningful foundation for rethinking human embeddedness in the natural world and developing a more sustainable environmental philosophy.
... E. Katz traces "the development of an ethical policy that is centered not on human beings, but on itself" [9]. I. Thomson concludes that "two competing approaches are discerned within the eco-phenomenological movement: Nietzscheans and Husserlians propose a naturalistic ethical realism in which good and bad are ultimately matters of fact, and values should be grounded in these proto-ethical facts; Heideggerians and Levinasians articulate a transcendental ethical realism according to which we discover what really matters when we are appropriately open to the environment, but what we thereby discover is a transcendental source of meaning that cannot be reduced to facts, values, or entities of any kind" [10]. The research focus of scientists is on balance and its opposite -imbalance as a stimulating, regulating and challenging factor in the ideas of implementation of sustainable development practices [11]. ...
The purpose of the research is to develop philosophical and ethical foundations of ecological behavior, as well as thinking that generates creative consciousness, dialog communication, directed against the utilitarian approach to reality. The novelty consists, firstly, in substantiating the idea of developing the essential forces of man, which are not opposed to the everyday world, but harmonize it with spiritual satisfaction. Ecological thinking and behavior do not arise randomly and automatically, but require moral effort. Normative action is connected with human efforts to join the world of humanism and love as an invariant that remains unchanged in various cultural and historical forms. Secondly, the modern understanding of the ethics of human duty involves requirements for human action to be neither destructive of future existence nor threatening to the preservation of life. The conclusions are based on the deontological understanding of ethics of duty. The applied dialectical method, which is based on the principle of activity of self-consciousness, is associated with the rise above utilitarianism, overcoming the consumerist, technocratic attitude to the surrounding world, operating with quantitative indicators of intellectual progress. The research is based on the principle of additionality of sensuality and reason, pleasure and duty. The authors substantiate the transcendental way of cognizing the ecology of man and society. Human needs and interests lie at the foundation of understanding the social and spiritual consequences of a committed action. Harmony of the principles of duty and love is promoted by creative overcoming of utilitarianism and recognition of the limits of possibilities of impact on the natural environment. Environmental behavior must be viewed in the context of the rich world of human individuality, which contributes to the harmonization of ethical duty and pleasure.
... Local people are an interactive component of a broader ecological system, that can be understood through histories of cohabitation and collaboration in East Africa (Debelo 2017;Evans and Adams 2018;Kamau 2017;Kamau and Sluyter 2018). Here we adopt an eco-centric ontology, which decentralizes human perspectives, needs, and interests in order to reconsider agency as an exclusive property of human beings (Thomson 2004). Such an ontology allows us to explore the agency of non-humans and envisage more holistic interventions in socio-ecological systems. ...
Protected areas (PAs) are often seen as a solution to the biodiversity crisis, however, such conservation intervention can drive environmental change and conflict. Despite being presented as neutral and technically informed, PA establishment is highly political, often concealing social, economic, and political factors. Political ecology research examines how dominant narratives shape PA establishment, helping to better understand multi-layered conflicts involving often marginalized communities, conservation actors and wildlife in East Africa. This paper presents a meta-synthesis of PA expansion in the region, revealing the intricate relationship between conservation and conflict. The analysis identifies four key themes: 'commodification of wilderness', 'the war for biodiversity', 'community marginalization on the periphery', and 'conservation biopolitics'. By novel utilization of meta-synthesis methodology, this paper contributes twofold: themes provide nuanced regional understandings of the processes driving conservation conflicts while drawing theoretical insights from case study research which reveal the general applicability of findings from political ecology research.
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https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/PX8U8C4KEK2B5HY3T9KX/full?target=10.1080/08941920.2023.2253744
... Book available on Amazon HERE © mtomat 2022 -p. 15Heideggerian terms, then, the world and everything around us contribute to the understanding of what matters to us(Thomson, 2004). and… and… and… rooting for hilma : SHORT VERSION © 2022 mtomat. ...
EXCERPT from the Introduction to the BA Dissertation :
During the months leading up to the writing of this piece, I explored the literature available and noticed how the mainstream narrative mainly focuses on a handful of topics that are being researched, explored, and rewritten following almost a meticulous pattern. For want of
a better word, I could describe this as official or conventional. Some of these topics deal with her position within a well-established framework of artists “into the standard narratives of Western modernism” (Birnbaum, 2020, p.140); whether she was or was not the first abstract artist (Müller-Westermann, 2020, p.25); whether her mediumship and spirituality were real (Fer, 2018, p.164); how much spirituality influenced her work (Høgsberg and Rudbøg, 2020, p.11); whether being unknown and undiscovered for such a long time is what makes her unique (Fer, 2020, p.109), and not the artworks in themselves because “art history without biography may be a fallacy” (Molensworth, 2018, p.43).
These topics follow a straightforward, well-established, prescribed approach to art understanding and interpretation. I define this as tree-like: a historical perspective formed from happenings in society that inform the culture of the time, enlightening the then-existing artistic milieu, further influencing single artists and their creations. Later I will question if this singular view could be considered reductive and limiting when discussing art. In this sense, I used spirituality as leverage, as one way of many to look at artworks, hence allowing me to widen the scope of my research.
As of November 2023:
The text has now been published on Amazon. The version available here is a shorter redacted version.
... This transgressive ontological character of hybrids calls for pondering the question of their ethical status, since metaphysical and moral ideas are often inextricably linked (Brennan and Lo 2010, pp. 104-107;Thomson 2004;Howe 1993;Callicott 1986). A good example of this type of consideration is the concept of "moral considerability" developed originally in the field of environmental philosophy, which defines what kinds of beings deserve moral attention on the basis of their ontological features (Horta 2018;Hale 2011;Goodpaster 1978). ...
The transgressive ontological character of hybrids—entities crossing the ontological binarism of naturalness and artificiality, e.g., biomimetic projects—calls for pondering the question of their ethical status, since metaphysical and moral ideas are often inextricably linked. The example of it is the concept of “moral considerability” and related to it the idea of “intrinsic value” understood as a non-instrumentality of a being. Such an approach excludes hybrids from moral considerations due to their instrumental character. In the paper, we revisit the boundaries of moral considerability by reexamining the legitimacy of identifying intrinsic value with a non-instrumental one. We offer the concept of “functional value,” which we define as a simultaneous contribution to the common good of the ecosystem and the possibility to disclose the full variety of aspects of a being’s identity. We argue that such a value of hybrids allows us to include them into the scope of moral considerability.
... In our environment today one can find ever increasing numbers of hybridsentities that straddle the boundary between naturalness and artificiality. This transgressive ontological character of hybrids calls for pondering the question of their ethical status, since metaphysical and moral ideas are often inextricably linked (Brennan and Lo 2010, 104-107;Thomson 2004;Howe 1993, Callicott 1986. A good example of this type of consideration is the concept of 'moral considerability' developed originally in the field of environmental philosophy, which defines what kinds of beings deserve moral attention on the basis of their ontological features (Horta 2016;Hale 2011;Goodpaster 1978). ...
The transgressive ontological character of hybrids-entities crossing the ontological binarism of naturalness and artificiality, e.g., biomimetic projects-calls for pondering the question of their ethical status, since metaphysical and moral ideas are often inextricably linked. The example of it is the concept of "moral considerability" and related to it the idea of "intrinsic value" understood as a non-instrumentality of a being. Such an approach excludes hybrids from moral considerations due to their instrumental character. In the paper, we revisit the boundaries of moral considerability by reexamining the legitimacy of identifying intrinsic value with a non-instrumental one. We offer the concept of "functional value", which we define as a simultaneous contribution to the common good of the ecosystem and the possibility to disclose the full variety of aspects of a being's identity. We argue that such a value of hybrids allows us to include them into the scope of moral considerability. 2
... Consequently, his call for restoring the self-emerging and self-concealing nature, gets widely incorporated in the radical ecological movements. 8 As per this deliberation, environmental philosophy as well as Heideggerian ecophenomenology focus on the later works of Heidegger-where Heidegger extensively focuses on how to preserve physis and elaborates on various suggestive accounts directed towards transcending this technological epoch 9 -instead of focusing on his entire oeuvre. ...
This essay will be an attempt to reinterpret three most-referred Heidegger's concepts in environmental philosophy-Ereignis, 'let things be', Gelassenheit-in the light of Thomas Sheehan's interpretation. Environmental philosophy conceives these concepts as his suggestive treatments for transcending the technological nihilism. Following Sheehan, this reinterpretation reveals that these concepts instead of delineating a radical way out of the technological nihilism, evokes the need to realize the presence of the intrinsic hidden clearing as the fundamental-limiting reality of human existence. Rather than considering this technological revelation as a singular-determining factor and consequently, striving to realize the transcendental source of meaning for overcoming the nihilistic revelation of the environment as mere resources, I contend, environmental philosophy should identify the role of the hermeneutic structure of human existence in intricately shaping our relationship with the environment to discover a new ground for understanding this relationship and eventually, for crafting a new pragmatic form of environmental ethic.
... Thus children easily feel an aversion to nature, or what Sobel (1996) calls 'ecophobia'. The negative reaction to nature could contribute to the collision between human beings and environments (Kahn, 1999;Orr, 2004;Thomson, 2004). ...
The aim of this article is to propose the concept of ecophilia as the guiding idea for conceiving an education with ecological concern – ecopedagogy. Drawing on E. O. Wilson’s idea of biophilia and Yi Fu Tuan’s notion of topophilia, I coin the term ‘ecophilia’, which means the human affective and embodied bond with other living beings and the environs, e.g. nature and place. Ecopedagogy is coined to mean an ecological approach to education with the aim of cultivating ecophilia. I argue that embracing ecophilia can expand the current mode of education that neglects environments and nature. Education in terms of ecophilia and ecopedagogy reconnects humans and the environment in an ecologically meaningful way.
... Hence, methodologies dependent on it create a discourse based on an objective truth about the environment where the subject (human) and the object (environment) are distinctly different. Thomson (2004) critiques this mode of inquiry by stating " . . . phenomenologists argue that these conceptual dichotomies fundamentally mischaracterize our ordinary experience." ...
Environmental philosophy, needless to say, is going through a transition in the zenith of the Anthropocene. It is high time to carry out engaged philosophy to bring in philosophical understandings in approaching real-world environmental issues for obtaining some novel insights into the human–environment relationship. For the same, I argue, we need to explore some new methodologies that would be capable of offering the opportunity to do engaged philosophy instead of borrowing methodologies from the social sciences. Here, I examine Phenomenological Research Methodology (PRM) for the same. I elaborate on the process of conducting a field study with this methodology. For analyzing narratives, I choose the interpretive stream over the descriptive one. By drawing extensively from the philosophy of phenomenology, I propose a four-step narrative analysis process that can unveil a narrator’s transcendent mode of being. Finally, I share my research experiences while employing PRM in the field and demonstrate how PRM has the potential to sidestep some of the widely held concerns associated with field studies. Along with, I highlight critical reflection of my experiences while employing this methodology, particularly, in the context of India.
... Things viewed in this mode are Bpresent-at-hand^(vorhandene) (Moran 2000, p. 233). The preposition Bin^in being-in-the-world does not signify a relationship of two spatially separated things to each another, but rather the purposeful, availability aspect of things due to our utilizing acquaintance with the world (Thomson 2004). The fundamental structure of being-in-the-world is a Bbeing with things and with others in such a way that its whole existence is structured by care (Sorge)^ (Moran 2000, p. 238). ...
Focus of this article is the current situation characterized by students’ de-rootedness and possible measures to improve the situation within the frame of education for sustainable development. My main line of argument is that science teachers can practice teaching in such a way that students are brought in deeper contact to the environment. I discuss efforts to promote aesthetic experience in science class and in science teacher education. Within a wide range of definitions, my main understanding of aesthetic experience is that of pre-conceptual experience, relational to the environment and incorporated in students’ embodied knowledge. I ground the idea of Earth at rest in Husserl’s phenomenological philosophy and Heidegger’s notion of science’ deprivation of the world. A critique of the ontological reversal leads to an ontological re-reversal that implies giving lifeworld experience back its value and rooting scientific concepts in students’ everyday lives. Six aspects of facilitating grounding in sustainability-oriented science teaching and teacher education are highlighted and discussed: students’ everyday knowledge and experience, aesthetic experience and grounding, fostering aesthetic sensibility, cross-curricular integration with art, ontological and epistemological aspects, and belongingness and (re-)connection to Earth. I conclude that both science students and student-teachers need to practice their sense of caring and belonging, as well as refining their sensibility towards the world. With an intension of educating for a sustainable development, there is an urgent need for a critical discussion in science education when it comes to engaging learners for a sustainable future.
... 3). Thomson, influenced by this phenomenological tradition, similarly proposes that exploring deeply entrenched environmentally destructive ethical and metaphysical presuppositions underlying behaviour can help to alleviate global warming (Thomson, 2004, pg. 381). ...
This paper examines how participation and sustainability are being addressed by architects in new schools building programmes in the UK. It explores Government policy and a variety of participation practices which suggest the value of co-design approaches to building new schools. Through research with young people from some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK, those communities that the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is targeting, the paper explores young people attitudes to sustainable lifestyles and suggests that we need some very different ways of teaching in the C21st, and correspondingly very different spaces, if we are to address the social and environmental problems that climate change will bring. Art based participation and co-design practices with young people are used to suggest empowerment, citizenship, place making and community, but so many criticisms are being ignored by educationalists and architects. Participation thus risks becoming tokenistic, but forging the relationship between co-design practices and sustainability with young people, could counter some of these continuing accusations and begin to enable the UK Government to approach the dual objectives of providing better learning environments and sustainable schools.
... But the concept of Dasein is not coextensive with that of human being ( Schatzki 1992 : 82 ; cf . Thomson 2004 : 401 ) , and accordingly , being - in - the - world is , to be precise , a being - with - other - Dasein , not a being - with - other - humans . Yet for all this Heidegger himself fails to follow up the implications of his own reasoning , assuming instead that the token others one is ' with ' are all of a particular ( human ) type . ...
Writers such as Jacques Derrida, Simon Glendinning, John D. Caputo and Charles S. Brown have argued that the disposition to regard some nonhuman animals as minded beings reflects a fundamental existential truth about humans. The way of being characteristic of humans, it is suggested, is (or at least can be) a 'being-with' nonhuman animals, just as it is a 'being-with' other humans. This paper has three aims: (1) to explain the origins of such claims in Heidegger's account of 'being-with' (Mitsein); (2) to investigate whether arguments of this kind can successfully undercut the sceptical claim, voiced by writers such as Malebranche, that no nonhuman animals have minds; and (3) to show how a phenomenological approach can shed light on the various ways in which we relate to nonhuman animals.
El objetivo de este libro es meditar, filosófica y teológicamente, sobre la posibilidad de fundamentar ontológicamente la dignidad humana en la relación con el Ser, pues la dignidad no es un concepto que pueda definirse, sino una experiencia relacional que puede tematizarse. Esta oportunidad de reflexión se da al sentir y reconocer que el propio ser humano no está en casa sino a la intemperie y lejos del hogar, y en el conmoverse ante la falta de ser de sí mismo, de los otros y de la naturaleza. La experiencia de la falta y del no logro conmueve hacia dentro (pensar existencialmente la propia carencia), pero también hacia fuera (pensar responsablemente la carencia de los otros y de lo otro), y esa falta genera el deseo de regreso a la casa, al hogar. Se pretende mostrar las figuras constitutivas del fenómeno de la dignidad humana. No se trata de indicar los medios sicológicos, legales, instrumentales, económicos, políticos para afrontar las violaciones concretas de la dignidad humana (que ciertamente facilitan y exigen el cuidado y el reconocimiento), sino de evidenciar la experiencia ontológica de esta (se es peregrino en camino hacia la patria, migrante con nostalgia de la casa paterna)
Neste ensaio, mostraremos que a Educação em Ciências contemporânea tem sido fundamentada em uma racionalidade técnica e instrumental que promove uma hiperconceitualização dos fenômenos. Nela se apresentam modelos abstratos supostamente prontos em detrimento das experiências multissensoriais que levam à descrição e à interpretação da natureza, uma reversão ontológica. Uma das possibilidades para lidar com a reversão ontológica são as experiências estéticas, processos pré-cognitivos de relação às experiências com o mundo e os fenômenos ontológicos que nele se mostram. A arte se mostra uma possível promotora de experiências estéticas, potencializando a sensibilidade ao experienciar do mundo. Assim, apresentamos a experiência de reconhecimento da escrita de poesias como possibilidade de promover uma atitude estética em relação aos fenômenos, um enraizamento do ser na Educação em Ciências.
Grasping the identity of hybrids, that is beings which cross the binarism of nature and technology (e.g. genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), syn-bio inventions, biomimetic projects), is problematic since it is still guided by self-evident dualistic categories, either as artefacts or as natural entities. To move beyond the limitations of such a one-sided understanding of hybrids, we suggest turning towards the categories of affordances and the juxtaposition of needs and patterns of proper use, as inspired by the Heideggerian version of phenomenology. Drawing upon selected concepts by Heidegger, we argue that hybrids can be conceptualised as a regenerative design and use to serve the planet. We argue that the ideal type of non-exploitative account of hybrids consists of the adaptive approach to the environment, which does not, however, exclude the possibility of designing and constructing new beings. We also point out that hybrids undermine the divide of being destructive/regenerative which marks the boundaries of nature and technology.
W artykule proponuję przekład pojęcia Dasein w filozofii Martina Heideggera jako „Oswajania”. Takie rozwiązanie oparte jest o semantykę swoistości, która odgrywa wiodącą rolę w Heideggerowskiej koncepcji bycia. Nawiązując do klasycznych i nowszych przekładów, pokazuję, że „Oswajanie” – wraz z jego późniejszym wariantem, „O-swajeniem” (Da-sein) – uwypukla napięcie między nierozporządzalnością bycia przez człowieka i ich wzajemną bliskością. W tym znaczeniu może stanowić komplementarną, nieliteralną alternatywę dla istniejących przekładów w języku polskim.
This paper rethinks the dynamics of what Heidegger called the modern Gestell ”“ i.e. dynamics behind the fulfilment of nihilism ”“ as that of an “unworlding” on whose subsequent “worldlessness” today’s Object-Oriented Ontology may be said to build. Also, it questions whether Heidegger’s early-Greek-oriented thought on being does not actually solicit an altogether different drift on the horizon of the possible, namely: that of thinking and re-experiencing dwelling in terms of retrieved “worldness.” Lastly, it reflects on the conditions of possibility that such dwelling, and its concomitant “worldings,” must meet, in dialogue with Heidegger, present-day animism studies, and non-religious Greek views on the sacred and the divine, in connection to which it articulates, and endorses, the concept of post-nihilism in contraposition to today’s nihilist philosophical wanderings.
The paper aims to identify and explain the absence of eco-phenomenological perspective in Polish philosophy. Eco-phenomenology, which emerged as the specialized area of phenomenological movement in the 1980s, explores relations between human beings and nature. The lack of it in Poland, as the paper argues, is not only due to the specific political situation, but primarily because of the great impact of Jozef Tischner’s “philosophy of drama,” which has strongly anthropocentric implications.
What are the basic coordinates of the dispute between Heidegger and Levinas over “death” and its phenomenological and ontological significance? In what ways do Heidegger and Levinas disagree about how we become genuinely or fully ourselves? By examining the convergences and divergences of Heidegger’s and Levinas phenomenologies of death, “Rethinking Levinas on Heidegger on Death” suggests that Heidegger and Levinas both understood themselves as struggling to articulate the requisite ethical response to the great traumas of the twentieth century. By comparing their thinking at this level, we can better understand the ways in which Levinas genuinely diverges from Heidegger even while building critically on his thinking.
This paper describes the phenomenological ethics implicit in Heidegger's later work. It is argued that these phenomenological ethics take the form of a perfectionist ethics in which one consciously resists the temptation to nihilistically enframe other entities as Bestand. Despite Heidegger's reputation as an inferior animal philosopher, it is then argued that we can employ this ethics to improve our relationship with non-human animals. Specifically, our use of them in the agricultural setting is examined to determine whether or not our current practices are ethical according to Heidegger's normative model. Ultimately it is concluded that, more often than not, animals are harmed both ontically and ontologically by our modern farming practices. We are called on instead to try to dwell meditatively with other entities, to be-with them in such a way that respects them as inexhaustibly meaningful instantiations of being as such. This requires changes to the way in which we satisfy our needs as consumers.
Thomson explains why Being and Time fails to accomplish the very thing Heidegger most wanted the text to accomplish, namely, the disclosure of a “fundamental ontology” or “an understanding of the meaning of being in general.” Thomson shows, moreover, that this failure teaches Heidegger, and so us, a profound lesson about what philosophy can and cannot be henceforth, helping to guide us beyond Western philosophy’s perennial ambition to establish and secure a metaphysical ontotheology. Thomson thus argues that the failure of philosophical metaphysics in Being and Time, rather than taking away from the greatness of the work, should instead be recognized as a crucial part of what makes Being and Time the most important philosophical work of the twentieth century.
What does Heidegger mean by ontotheology, and why should we care? We will see that Heidegger understands ontotheology as the two-chambered heart of Western metaphysics, “the history that we are” (GA 47: 28/N3 20). Heidegger's deconstruction of the metaphysical tradition leads him to the view that metaphysics does not just concern philosophers isolated in their ivory towers; on the contrary, “metaphysics grounds an age.” As he explains, “Metaphysics grounds an age in that, through a specific interpretation of what is … it gives the age the ground of its essential form.” Here Heidegger advances the thesis I call ontological holism. Put simply: Everything is, so by changing our understanding of what “is-ness” itself is, metaphysics can change our understanding of everything. In other words, metaphysics molds our very sense of what it means for something – anything – to be. Because everything intelligible “is” in some sense, Heidegger holds that: “Western humanity, in all its comportment toward entities, and that means also toward itself, is in every respect sustained and guided by metaphysics” (GA 6.2: 309/N4 205). By shaping and reshaping our understanding of what “is-ness” is, metaphysics plays a foundational role in establishing and maintaining our very sense of the intelligibility of all things, ourselves included.Heidegger's view that “metaphysics grounds an age” (“ein Zeitalter,” literally “an age of time,” in the singular) presupposes two further theses, which I call ontological historicity and epochality.
Introduction: Uncovering the Conceptual Roots of Environmental DevastationFrom Ontological Method to Eco-Phenomenological EthicsThe Meaning of the EarthNaturalistic Ethical Realism in Eco-PhenomenologyTranscendental Ethical Realism in Eco-PhenomenologyLevinas, Heidegger, and the Ethical Question of Animality
Heidegger is now widely recognized as one of the most influential and controversial philosophers of the twentieth century, yet much of his later philosophy remains shrouded in confusion and controversy. Restoring Heidegger's understanding of metaphysics as ‘ontotheology’ to its rightful place at the center of his later thought, this book demonstrates the depth and significance of his controversial critique of technology, his appalling misadventure with Nazism, his prescient critique of the university, and his important philosophical suggestions for the future of higher education. It will be required reading for those seeking to understand the relationship between Heidegger's philosophy and National Socialism, as well as the continuing relevance of his work.
In Ambient Rhetoric, Thomas Rickert seeks to dissolve the boundaries of the rhetorical tradition and its basic dichotomy of subject and object. With the advent of new technologies, new media, and the dispersion of human agency through external information sources, rhetoric can no longer remain tied to the autonomy of human will and cognition as the sole determinants in the discursive act. Rickert develops the concept of ambience in order to engage all of the elements that comprise the ecologies in which we exist. Culling from Martin Heidegger's hermeneutical phenomenology in Being and Time, Rickert finds the basis for ambience in Heidegger's assertion that humans do not exist in a vacuum; there is a constant and fluid relation to the material, informational, and emotional spaces in which they dwell. Hence, humans are not the exclusive actors in the rhetorical equation; agency can be found in innumerable things, objects, and spaces. As Rickert asserts, it is only after we become attuned to these influences that rhetoric can make a first step toward sufficiency. Rickert also recalls the foundational Greek philosophical concepts of kairos (time), chora (space/place), and periechon (surroundings) and cites their repurposing by modern and postmodern thinkers as "informational scaffolding" for how we reason, feel, and act. He discusses contemporary theory in cognitive science, rhetoric, and object-oriented philosophy to expand his argument for the essentiality of ambience to the field of rhetoric. Rickert then examines works of ambient music that incorporate natural and artificial sound, spaces, and technologies, finding them to be exemplary of a more fully resonant and experiential media. In his preface, Rickert compares ambience to the fermenting of wine-how it's distinctive flavor can be traced to innumerable factors, including sun, soil, water, region, and grape variety. The environment and company with whom it's consumed further enhance the taste experience. And so it should be with rhetoric-to be considered among all of its influences. As Rickert demonstrates, the larger world that we inhabit (and that inhabits us) must be fully embraced if we are to advance as beings and rhetors within it. Copyright
The time is coming when the struggle for dominion over the earth will be carried on. It will be carried on in the name of fundamental philosophical doctrines. Friedrich Nietzsche. Introduction. After years of agonizing among scientists over the dangers of discussing “Plan B,” the dam broke with the publication in 2006 of an editorial essay by Nobel Prize–winning atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen in which he called for serious consideration of geoengineering. Within the expert community, work on geoengineering is now vigorous, with a sharp leap in the number of academic papers published. The debate is poised to move to center stage when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the first time includes assessment of geoengineering solutions in its Fifth Assessment Report, due out in stages in 2013 and 2014. Some have been disturbed at the ease with which worries about the morality of openly considering geoengineering seem to have been left behind in favor of a focus on research and governance arrangements. The growing interest in alternatives to mitigation perhaps justifies the fears of those who criticized Crutzen for letting the cat out of the bag, although someone was bound to do it sooner or later. Whether climate engineering becomes a substitute for carbon abatement, instead of a complement or a backup, remains to be seen. But there can be no doubt that in the wider debate over climate policy technological intervention is everywhere presented as a substitute for social change. Despite the fact that the world’s emissions have for some years been tracking at levels higher than the IPCC’s worst-case scenario of the early 2000s, any challenge to the primacy of economic growth is strictly excluded from the official agenda. The whole burden must fall on technology.
Heidegger, Art, and Postmodernity offers a radical new interpretation of Heidegger's later philosophy, developing his argument that art can help lead humanity beyond the nihilistic ontotheology of the modern age. Providing pathbreaking readings of Heidegger's “The Origin of the Work of Art” and his notoriously difficult Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning), this book explains precisely what postmodernity meant for Heidegger, the greatest philosophical critic of modernity, and what it could still mean for us today. Exploring these issues, Iain D. Thomson examines several postmodern works of art, including music, literature, painting, and even comic books, from a post-Heideggerian perspective. Clearly written and accessible, this book will help readers gain a deeper understanding of Heidegger and his relation to postmodern theory, popular culture, and art.
What is 'nature'? In what sense are humans parts of it? And why, if at all, should we strive to conserve it? Environmental issues raise a host of fascinating philosophical questions. Yet all too often these questions are tackled in an overly abstract way, one that fails to account for what it is like to experience the natural world. The Presence of Nature takes a different approach. Drawing on the philosophical tradition of phenomenology as well as a number of literary sources, Simon James takes a refreshingly new perspective on a range of topics, including animal consciousness, the moral imperative to conserve nature and the view that the natural world exists independently of human concerns. In so doing, he develops an original approach to environmental philosophy, one that takes seriously the various ways we encounter the natural world in the living of our lives.
“Authentic Professional Learning” is the term I have used to represent the lived experience of continuing to learn as a professional. This term distinguishes the realities of the experience of PL from the rhetoric about PD expectations, whilst raising the notion of authenticity with respect to dealing with dissonance between the two. This chapter outlines a framework based on this notion of APL, proposing constructive possibilities for supporting professionals as they learn in the current context.
abstractIn this paper, I suggest that the important philosophy of the future will increasingly be found neither in the “continental” nor in the “analytic” traditions but, instead, in the transcending sublation of (all) traditions I call “synthetic philosophy.” I mean “synthetic” both in a sense that encourages the bold combinatorial mélange of existing styles, traditions, and issues, and also in the Hegelian sense of sublating dichotomous oppositions, appropriating the distinctive insights of both sides while eliminating their errors and exaggerations, and thereby creating new syntheses in which the old oppositions are transcended.
This article is an approximation towards bridging the existing gap between physical and human
geography. Examples are taken from research methodology in glacial geomorphology and established how these methods relate to larger ontological questions about human relations with nature.
An attempt will be made to answer these questions with reference to the fascination with natural
phenomena, and whence this fascination possibly stems. The conclusion is that a part of this fascination stems from the infinite possibilities of sensing and understanding the past and future as
they collide in a moment of cognition. Thus the article argues that the work of the scientist, which
is about analysing, defining and explaining natural phenomena, is driven by the fascination for the
in finite potential that resides in such phenomena.
The cultural resource base on the New England coast and continental shelf, circumscribed generally in this overview to Southern New England and the Gulf of Maine, is summarized. The U.S. and state historic preservation regulatory schemes and constituent interests are outlined. Federal, state, and local authorities are involved in review and permitting of proposed undertakings that could adversely affect significant cultural resources on the coast and continental shelf. Government authorities (including Native American Tribal Historic Preservation Officers), biological and cultural resource managers, and researchers may consider this commentary in developing their policies, practices, commentary, and research proposals to investigate the effects of coastal and near-shore development projects in this and other regions. Ethical considerations are raised for government agencies, private concerns, cultural resource management professionals, and for other scientific and historical investigators whose decisions and activities involve public interests in historic and archaeological resources. Scientific and historical narratives that synthesize cultural and ecological history in local and regional view are part of plans of action to implement coastal management goals.
This essay examines the potential of Heidegger's phenomenology as a foundation for environmental communication theory, emphasizing his critiques of modern science, technology, humanism, and metaphysics. A phenomenological approach to environmental communication provides resources for recognizing metaphysical assumptions that endanger both humans and nature. The Hanford nuclear reservation serves as an illustrative text, exemplifying Heidegger's reading of nuclear energy as a culmination of both Western metaphysics and the instrumental stance that he calls “enframing.” In Heidegger's view, the ordering and control accomplished through enframing obscures the mutually constitutive relationship between humans and nature, and in doing so, diminishes the possibilities for authentic human existence. The chapter examines how both representational and constitutive models of communication contribute to those conditions, and adopts a set of concepts from Heidegger's phenomenology as a foundation for an alternative, “bounded constitutive” model.
Our understanding of organizations is being advanced by a diverse range of practice-based approaches. Many of these approaches are inspired by what can be called a life-world perspective, although they do not necessarily adopt this perspective throughout the research. In this article, we propose that adopting a life-world perspective can bring us closer to how practice is constituted. We argue that the performance of organizational practices can be more closely examined by bringing to the fore the manner in which practice is constituted through our entwinement with others and things in our world. In order to discuss how a life-world perspective can be used as a basis for such empirical and theoretical investigations, we compare it with one of the more advanced frameworks for practice within strategy research.
It is often held that, in contrast to Husserl, Heidegger's account of intentionality makes no essential reference to the first-person stance. This paper argues, on the contrary, that an account of the first-person, or 'subjectivity', is crucial to Heidegger's account of intelligibility (world) and so of the intentionality, or 'aboutness' of our acts and thoughts, that rests upon it. It first offers an argument as to why the account of intelligibility in Division I of Being and Time, based on a form of third-person self-awareness, provides a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for intentionality. It then shows that Heidegger provides a further necessary condition in his analysis of the collapse of the one-self in Division II. This condition is 'conscience', which is both a genuine first-person mode of self-awareness and, it is argued, the origin of reason as that which distinguishes factic 'grounds' from normative 'justifications'.
Ecologically responsible policies are concerned only in part with pollution and resource depletion. There are deeper concerns which touch upon principles of diversity, complexity, autonomy, decentralization, symbiosis, egalitarianism, and classlessness.
Nietzsche attributes ‘will power’ to all living things, but this seems in sharp conflict with other positions important to him-and implausible besides. The doctrine smacks of both metaphysics and anthropomorphizing, which he elsewhere derides. Will to power seems to be an intentional end-directedness, involving cognitive or representational powers he is rightly loath to attribute to all organisms, and tends to downplay even in persons. This paper argues that we find a stronger reading of will to power-both more plausible and more consistent with Nietzsche's other views-by developing his affinities with Darwinism. By seeing will to power as an ‘internal revision’to Darwinism, opposing the latter's stress (as Nietzsche thinks) on ‘survival’, but assenting to its uses of natural selection, we can ground or naturalize that notion, congenially to Nietzsche and to us.
The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger
- See
- Zimmerman
34 See Zimmerman, 'Heidegger, Buddhism, and Deep Ecology', in C. Guignon (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Heidegger (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 240–69 (Zimmerman raises this political worry on p. 264);
The Question of Being
- See
- Heidegger
38 See Heidegger, The Question of Being (London: Vision Press, 1956), pp. 81–5.
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth Llewelyn aptly characterizes Muir as a 'poet, scientist, and phenomenological ecologist
- John Muir
John Muir, The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1965), p. 228. Llewelyn aptly characterizes Muir as a 'poet, scientist, and phenomenological ecologist' (p. 61).
is a milder form of revenge'. I offer sincere thanks, nonetheless
- Gratitude
- Nietzsche
Gratitude', Nietzsche says, 'is a milder form of revenge'. I offer sincere thanks, nonetheless, to Anne-Margaret Baxley, Kelly Becker, John Bussanich, Hubert Dreyfus, Russell Goodman, Wayne Martin, and John Taber, for encouragement, criticism, and guidance. Received 2 January 2004 Iain Thomson, University of New Mexico, Department of Philosophy, MSC03-2140, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. E-mail: ithomson@unm.edu