ABSTRACT
In modernity the environment is usually perceived as "nature": either it is seen from an objectivist-technoscientific point of view, or it is experienced in subjectivist-romantic terms – both of which are entangled with how we act. This chapter considers philosophical reflection and argument to show that both modes of seeing and treating the environment present a distorted view of the basic, existential relation between humans and their environment – and indeed a distorted view of the human – and undesirably limit the range of possibilities we have for relating to our environment. It then describes two modern ways of perceiving and seeing the environment: an objectivist–technoscientific one and a subjectivist–romantic one, which may be understood as standing in a dialectic relation. The chapter explores a route towards a less modern, less dualistic way of thinking about the environment, which also deconstructs the anthropocentrism-ecocentrism duality. It concludes with a brief reflection on the possibility of environmental change.
