Environmental hermeneutics is a term for a wide range of scholarship that applies the techniques and resources of the
philosophical
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
field of
hermeneutics
Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication.
...
to environmental issues. That is to say it addresses issues of interpretation as they relate to
nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
and environmental issues broadly conceived to include
wilderness
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...
,
ecosystems
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
,
landscapes,
ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
, the built environment (
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
),
life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
, embodiment, and more. Work in
environmental philosophy
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
,
ecocriticism
Ecocriticism is the study of literature and ecology from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. It wa ...
,
environmental theology,
ecotheology, and similar disciplines may overlap the field of environmental hermeneutics.
In the public sphere, much of the focus on “the environment” is concerned with discovering scientific facts and then reporting how policy can act on these facts. On its face, philosophical hermeneutics might appear to be an unrelated enterprise. But... even the facts of the sciences are given meaning by how humans interpret them. Of course this does not mean that there are no facts, or that all facts must come from scientific discourse. Rather... t callsfor mediation—the ''mediation that grounds the interpretive task of connecting fact and meaning'' through a number of different structures and forms. (Clingerman, et al. 2013, emphasis added)
See also
*
Ecosemiotics
Ecosemiotics is a branch of semiotics in its intersection with human ecology, ecological anthropology and ecocriticism. It studies sign processes in culture, which relate to other living beings, communities, and landscapes. Ecosemiotics also dea ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Abram, D. (1996). ''The Spell of the Sensuous'', New York: Vintage.
* Brown, C. S. and T. Toadvine (2003). ''Eco-Phenomenology: Back to the Earth Itself'', New York: SUNY Press.
* Clingerman, F. and B. Treanor, M. Drenthen, D. Utsler (2013). ''Interpreting Nature: The Emerging Field of Environmental Hermeneutics'', New York: Fordham University Press.
* Clingerman, F. and M. Dixon (2011). ''Placing Nature on the Borders of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics'', London: Ashgate.
* Cronon, William (1992). “A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative.” ''Journal of American History'' 78 (1992): 1347–76.
* Drenthen, M. and J. Keulartz (2014). ''Environmental Aesthetics: Crossing Divides and Breaking Ground'', New York: Fordham University Press
* Gare, Arran (1998). “MacIntyre, Narratives, and Environmental Ethics.” ''Environmental Ethics'' 20 (1998): 3-21.
* Keller, K. (2003). ''The Face of the Deep'', London: Routledge
* Kohák, E. (1984). ''The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Moral Sense of Nature'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Mugerauer, R. (1995). ''Interpreting Environments'', Austin, TX: University of Texas Press
*
Plumwood, Val (1993). ''Feminism and the Mastery of Nature'', London: Routledge
* Treanor, Brian (2014). ''Emplotting Virtue: A Narrative Approach to Environmental Virtue Ethics''. New York: SUNY Press.
* Van Buren, John (1995). “Critical Environmental Hermeneutics.” ''Environmental Ethics'' 17 (1995): 259–275.
* Wood, D. (2006). “On the Way to Econstruction” in ''Environmental Philosophy'', vol. 3, issue 1 (Spring 2006)
{{Philosophy topics
Environmental ethics
Environmental philosophy
Hermeneutics