Ecopsychology, Phenomenology, and the Environment [recurso electrónico] The Experience of Nature

This book seeks to confront an apparent contradiction: that while we are constantly attending to environmental issues, we seem to be woefully out of touch with nature. The goal of Ecopsychology, Phenomenology and the Environment is to foster an enhanced awareness of nature that can lead us to new ways of relating to the environment, ultimately yielding more sustainable patterns of living. This volume is different from other books in the rapidly growing field of ecopsychology in its emphasis on phenomenological approaches, building on the work of phenomenological psychologists such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This focus on phenomenological methodologies for articulating our direct experience of nature serves as a critical complement to the usual methodologies of environmental and conservation psychologists, who have emphasized quantitative research. Moreover, Ecopsychology, Phenomenology and the Environment is distinctive insofar as chapters by phenomenologically-sophisticated ecopsychologists are complemented by chapters written by phenomenological researchers of environmental issues with backgrounds in philosophy and geology, providing a breadth and depth of perspective not found in other works written exclusively by psychologists. Foreword 6 On Wild Ethics 6 Acknowledgments 9 Contents 12 Contributors 14 About the Editors 20 Chapter-1 22 Ecopsychology and Phenomenology: An Introduction 22 Ecopsychology and Phenomenology: Affinities, Antipodes, and Engagements 22 Phenomenologies of the Earth: Deepening Our Experience of Nature and Its Alterity 24 Phenomenology, Environment, and Ethics 26 The Earth Unseen: Phenomenologies of Invisibility, Apocalypse, Death, and the Unhuman 27 References 29 Part I 30 Phenomenologies of the Earth: Deepening Our Experience of Nature and its Alterity 30 Chapter-2 31 Intimacy, Otherness, and Alienation: The Intertwining of Nature and Consciousness 31 Intimacy As Wellspring of Care: Invitation to Inquiry 31 Human Predicament Then and Now: Challenges to Intimacy 33 Encounters with Nature: Phenomenological Explorations 37 Nature As Healer: Psychoanalytic Considerations 39 Great Silence: Natureʼs Gift of Being 42 References 45 Chapter-3 47 Mountain Reflections: Reverence for the Consciousness of Nature 47 Introduction 47 Consciousness and Nature 47 Connecting to the Mystery 49 Intersubjectivity in Nature 50 Reverence Within a Shared Vulnerability 51 Transcendence and Immanence 53 Horizons and Impermanence 54 A Universal Unity 55 Respect for the Powerful Harmonies of Nature 57 The Balance of Extremes 60 The Ecstasy of Emerging 62 Listening to a Natural Wisdom 63 Conclusion 64 References 66 Chapter-4 67 Diamond in the Rough: An Exploration of Aliveness and Transformation in Wilderness 67 Ecopsychology 70 Primitive Ecopsychology 73 The Diamond Approach 75 Common Ground for a Wilderness-Based Retreat 76 The South Shield and the Soul’s Dynamism 77 The West Shield and the Soul’s Sensitivity 78 The North Shield and the Soul’s Maturation 79 The East Shield and the Soul’s Potentiality 80 Transpersonal Ecopsychology 81 References 82 Chapter-5 84 Intimate Responsivity as Essence-Calling-Path-Fruition: Eco(psycho)logical Ethics Via Zen Buddhist Phenomenology 84 References 105 Chapter-6 107 The Naturalist’s Presence: Notes Toward a Relational Phenomenology of Attention and Meaning 107 Introduction: Why a Phenomenology of Natural History? 107 Nature and Environmental Science 107 Gifts of Natural History 108 Natural History and Phenomenology 109 The Experience 110 Reading of the Experience 115 The Naturalist’s Attention 115 Forms of Attention and the Fascination of Nature 115 Loss of Self-Awareness 116 Lay of the Land: Natural History’s Temporality 117 Special Attention to Animals 118 Integrating Cognition: The Naturalist’s Presence 119 Meaning in Natural History 121 References 123 Chapter-7 126 Nomadic Dimensions of Education with the Earth-in-Mind 126 Introduction 126 Part I: Deschooling Education 127 Part II: An Educational Vision for Earthmind 132 The Body–World Unity 132 Our First World 133 The Core of the Self 134 Thinking Like Nature 135 Getting Back into Place 136 Implacement 137 The Lived Body 138 The Embodied Imagination and the Dimension of Depth 139 The Radical Unity of the Sensory Surface and Its Imaginal Depth 139 Deep-Education 141 References 142 Chapter-8 144 A Phenomenology of Intimate Relating and Identification with the Whole (and the Tale of the Woefully Misguided Aspirations of the Common Land Barnacle) 144 References 157 Part II 158 Phenomenology, Environment, and Ethics 158 Chapter-9 159 The Who of Environmental Ethics: Phenomenology and the Moral Self 159 Introduction 159 Phenomenology of Moral Experience and Personal Identity 162 Phenomenology of Moral Experience: The Body Self 164 Narrative Self as Ecological Self 166 The Reflective Self 168 The Ecological Self as Moral Self 169 The Finitude of Moral Subjectivity and Moral Experience 172 References 173 Chapter-10 175 Elemental Imagination: Deconstructive Phenomenology and the Sense of Environmental Ethics 175 Composing Monstrosity 177 Anthropocosmic 182 Deliberations 186 References 190 Chapter-11 192 Geologic Soul: An Ethic of Underworld Force 192 Surface Expressions 192 Archetypal Geology 193 Shifting Philosophical Stratigraphy 196 The Buried Body of Awareness 199 Waking Accuracy 201 Deep Being in Earth Time 203 A Revolutionary Earth and Depth Activism 207 References 207 Chapter-12 209 Climate Chaos, Ecopsychology, and the Maturing Human Being 209 Global Warming, Ecological Psychology, and the Call to Higher Maturity 209 References 220 Part III 222 The Earth Unseen: Phenomenologies of Invisibility, Apocalypse, Death and the Unhuman 222 Chapter-13 223 Apocalyptic Imagination and the Silence of the Elements 223 References 233 Chapter-14 234 Eros of Erosion: The Shaping of an Archetypal Geology 234 A Way In 234 Elemental Erosion 236 Erosive Symptoms 236 Weathering 237 Mass Wasting 238 Glaciation 239 Rivers 240 Fire 241 Winds 243 The Void 244 The Pandemic Beholder 245 Settling In 246 References 247 Chapter-15 248 The Invisibility of Nature: Garbage, Play Forts, and the Deterritorialization of Urban Nature Spaces 248 Garbage 249 Deterritorialization 251 Reterritorialization 254 Secret Nature Places 254 Determined and Undetermined Places 255 Ownership and Attachment 256 Conclusion 259 References 260 Chapter-16 262 Lorecasting the Weather: Unhumanizing Phenomenology for Decoding the Language of Earth 262 Phenomenology and Eradigm Shift 262 Goethe’s Musings, Jung’s Dreams, and the Language of the Symbolic 264 Lorecasting: Sensing and Translating the Speech of Earth 266 References 269 Index 271 A significant step in the evolution of ecopsychology has been the field’s growing awareness of its long-standing affinity with phenomenology. Now, at a time when the natural world is viewed as somewhere between threatening, threatened, and invisible, an examination of the often implicit bond between these two spheres of inquiry makes increasing sense. Ecopsychology, Phenomenology, and the Environment: The Experience of Nature explores the intersection of the two disciplines through a diverse group of ecological thinkers. Emphasizing the directly felt experience of the wild as opposed to overtly scientific approaches, this evocative volume presents fresh perspectives on the intimacy of nature, environmentally-related morals and ethics, and the realities engendered by climate change. With profound vision and lyrical elegance, contributors reveal the transformative power of the natural world and its expansive effects on our senses and consciousness. And perhaps most notably, these chapters challenge us as humans to revise how we understand ourselves in relation to the rest of nature. Included in the coverage: The naturalist’s presence: toward a relational phenomenology of attention and meaning. Aliveness and transformation in wilderness. Apocalyptic imagination and the silence of the elements. The who of environmental ethics: phenomenology and the moral self. Climate chaos, ecopsychology, and the maturing human being. Unhumanizing phenomenology to decode the language of Earth. Ecopsychology, Phenomenology, and the Environment: The Experience of Nature will find an engaged audience among ecopsychologists, environmental and conservation psychologists, and other psychologists and psychotherapists interested in environmental issues, as well as phenomenological psychologists. It will also appeal to environmental researchers working with psychological or phenomenological perspectives and philosophers concerned with environmental issues and ethics. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiv Ecopsychology and Phenomenology: An Introduction....Pages 1-8 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Intimacy, Otherness, and Alienation: The Intertwining of Nature and Consciousness....Pages 11-26 Mountain Reflections: Reverence for the Consciousness of Nature....Pages 27-46 Diamond in the Rough: An Exploration of Aliveness and Transformation in Wilderness....Pages 47-63 Intimate Responsivity as Essence-Calling-Path-Fruition: Eco(psycho)logical Ethics Via Zen Buddhist Phenomenology....Pages 65-87 The Naturalist’s Presence: Notes Toward a Relational Phenomenology of Attention and Meaning....Pages 89-107 Nomadic Dimensions of Education with the Earth-in-Mind....Pages 109-126 A Phenomenology of Intimate Relating and Identification with the Whole (and the Tale of the Woefully Misguided Aspirations of the Common Land Barnacle)....Pages 127-140 Front Matter....Pages 141-141 The Who of Environmental Ethics: Phenomenology and the Moral Self....Pages 143-158 Elemental Imagination: Deconstructive Phenomenology and the Sense of Environmental Ethics....Pages 159-175 Geologic Soul: An Ethic of Underworld Force....Pages 177-193 Climate Chaos, Ecopsychology, and the Maturing Human Being....Pages 195-207 Front Matter....Pages 209-209 Apocalyptic Imagination and the Silence of the Elements....Pages 211-221 Eros of Erosion: The Shaping of an Archetypal Geology....Pages 223-236 The Invisibility of Nature: Garbage, Play Forts, and the Deterritorialization of Urban Nature Spaces....Pages 237-250 Lorecasting the Weather: Unhumanizing Phenomenology for Decoding the Language of Earth....Pages 251-259 Back Matter....Pages 261-265 Ecopsychology And Phenomenology: An Introduction -- Intimacy, Otherness And Alienation: The Intertwining Of Nature And Consciousness -- Mountain Reflections: Reverence For The Consciousness Of Nature -- Diamond In The Rough: An Exploration Of Aliveness And Transformation In Wilderness -- Intimate Responsivity As Our Shared Essence-calling-path-fruition: Eco(psycho)logical Ethics Via Zen Buddhist Phenomenology -- The Naturalist's Presence: Notes Toward A Relational Phenomenology Of Attention And Meaning -- Nomadic Dimensions Of Education With The Earth-in-mind -- A Phenomenology Of Intimate Relating And Identification With The Whole (and The Tale Of The Woefully Misguided Aspirations Of The Common Land Barnacle) -- The Who Of Environmental Ethics: Phenomenology And The Moral Self -- Elemental Imagination: Deconstructive Phenomenology And The Sense Of Environmental Ethics -- Geologic Soul: An Ethic Of Underworld Force -- Climate Chaos, Eco-psychology And The Maturing Human Being -- Apocalyptic Imagination And The Silence Of The Elements -- Eros Of Erosion: The Shaping Of An Archetypal Geology -- The Invisibility Of Nature: Garbage, Play-forts And The Deterritorialization Of Urban Nature Spaces -- Lorecasting The Weather: Unhumanizing Phenomenology For Decoding The Language Of Earth. Douglas A. Vakoch, Fernando Castrillón, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.