Durham E-Theses Heidegger and environmental ethics James, Simon Paul How to cite: James, Simon Paul (2001) Heidegger and environmental ethics, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3958/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk HEIDEGGER AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS A thesis submitted by Simon Paul James in accordance with the requirements of the University of Durham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy August 2001 The CO(lyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any form, including Electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged approp.-iately. 2 2 MAR 200Z Declaration I declare that no part of this work has been submitted by me for any degree in this or any other university. All the work presented was conducted by me, except where otherwise stated in the text. Simon P. James The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. CONTENTS Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 2 Abbreviations 3 Introduction 4 Chapter One: The Alterity of Nature Postmodernism, environmentalism and the alterity of nature 14 Technology 18 Alterity in Being and Time 27 Art, earth and things 30 Being as empty horizon 37 Chapter Two: Environmental Holism and the Intrinsic Value ofNature Holism and intrinsic value in environmental philosophy 46 The dif-ference 50 Emptiness in Madhyamaka Buddhism 57 Whitehead and two moments of holism 62 Two moments ofholism in Heidegger and Madhyamaka 68 Reconciling dissolution and condensation 71 Intrinsic value 76 Chapter Three: Ethics Heidegger on ethics 81 Authentic solicitude and the possibilities for a 'Heideggerian' ethic 85 Ethics in Heidegger 'slater philosophy? 91 Six dimensions of homecoming 93 The possibility ofan environmental virtue ethic 101 Aristotle and Heidegger 104 Chapter Four: The Charge of Quietism Recap 116 Passivity and freedom 117 Critical thought and Adorno 's critique 126 Anti-humanism (and the question of animal being) 139 Two case studies: The environmental impact oftourism 162 Environmental restoration 174 Conclusion 186 Appendix: Awakening to Language in Heidegger and Zen 194 Bibliography 210 Abstract of Heidegger and Environmental Ethics, a thesis submitted by Simon P. James for the degree of Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Durham, 2001. This thesis presents an environmental ethic based on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Chapter One uses Heidegger's conception of 'dwelling' as the basis for a satisfying account of the 'otherness' or alterity of nature. Chapter Two draws upon Heidegger's writings on 'the dif-ference', Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy and the metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead to develop a 'dialectical' conception of holism which can accommodate both the account of alterity presented in Chapter One and an account of the intrinsic value of individual beings. Chapter Three frames this conception of environmental holism in terms of ethics. It is argued that Heidegger's ideal of 'releasement' can be thought of as an essential 'function' of humans, the exercise of which promotes human flourishing. Extending this Aristotelian line of reasoning, it is shown how one can draw upon Heidegger's philosophy to articulate a form of environmental virtue ethic. Chapter Four investigates the charge that Heidegger's later thought is quietistic, a general allegation which is analysed into four interrelated specific charges: 1) the accusation that Heidegger is advocating a passive withdrawal from the world; 2) Adorno's charge in Negative Dialectics that Heidegger's philosophy is inimical to critical thought; 3) the objection that Heidegger is unable to deal adequately with either interhuman relations or the relations between humans and nonhuman animals; and 4) the charge that Heidegger's later writings cannof oe brought to bear upon practical environmental issues. In answer to this last objection, case studies are presented of two environmental issues: 1) the environmental impact of tourism; and 2) the practice of environmental restoration. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the following: David, for three years of inspiration and good advice, and for showing me that excellence in philosophy need not be bought at the price of good humour; Richard, for his encouragement and support throughout my time at Durham, and for marking half the bloody Environmental Ethics essays; the University of Durham, the University of Durham's Department of Philosophy and the Royal Institute of Philosophy, for their financial support; my students, for (occasionally) showing me why I'm in academic philosophy; Paul, for guiding me through my first few months at Durham, and for introducing me to the work of Merleau-Ponty; Dawn, for really giving my work a good kicking; Matthew, for his encouragement and support; James, for making me think seriously about the German idealists, and for his advice on Adorno; Rebecca, for cheering me up with tales of crisis and drama; lain, for hazy memories of conversations about the Rift - and for Heroin; Birgit, for keeping my head above water; Kev, Jonny, John, Dave and Matt, for their constant support; Kathleen and Jane, for all their work behind the scenes, and all the bureaucracy they've cleared from my path; Tom, for providing a worthy opponent for my Nina; Andreas, for Smoke on the Water and for being a forgiving neighbour; Peter, for the lunchtimes of bigotry and for all the earl grey; Trish and Lydia for both, in their own ways, showing me what authenticity was; Hedley, for forcing me to defend Heidegger without retreating into mysticism. Finally, I would like to thank Carole, George, Dad, and especially Mum for sticking by me, even in this strangest of career choices. 3 Abbreviations BP The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (revised edition), tr. Albert Hofstadter (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982). BT Being and Time, tr. J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996). BW Basic Writings, David Farrell Krell, ed. (London: Routledge, 1996). CP Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning), tr. Parvis Emad and Kenneth Maly (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999). DT Discourse on Thinking, tr. John M. Anderson and E. Hans Freund (New York: Harper & Row, 1966). EB Existence and Being, W. Brock, ed. (London: Vision Press, 1968). EGT Early Greek Thinking, tr. David Farrell Krell and Frank A. Capuzzi (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1975). FCM The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics: World, Finitude, Solitude, tr. William McNeill and Nicholas Walker (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995). IM An Introduction to Metaphysics, tr. Ralph Mannheim (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959). N3 Nietzsche III: The Will to Power as Knowledge and as Metaphysics, tr. Joan Stambaugh, David Farrell Krell and Frank A. Capuzzi (New York: Harper & Row, 1987). OWL On the Way to Language, tr. P.O. Hertz (New York: Harper & Row, 1971). Pa Pathmarks, tr. William McNeill (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). rs_ Plato's Sophist, tr. Richard Rojcewicz and Andre Schuwer (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997). PLT Poetry, Language, Thought, tr. Albert Hofstadter (New York: Harper and Row, 1971 ). PR The Principle of Reason, tr. Reginald Lilly (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1991 ). QCT The Question Concerning Technology and other Essays, tr. William Lovitt (New York: Harper & Row, 1977). WCT What is called Thinking?, tr. J. Glenn Gray (New York: Harper & Row, 1968). 4 Introduction Many environmental thinkers would reject the idea that the global environmental crisis is a practical problem to be solved through practical means. Their point is not that this interpretation of the crisis is simply wrong - they do not doubt that the crisis demands action. Their point is rather that to see the environmental crisis as nothing more than a practical problem to be solved through economic and political reforms and scientific and technological innovations is to overlook its 'deeper' implications for our understanding of the world and our place in it. For these thinkers, before we rush in to 'fix' the environment- to curb carbon dioxide emissions, to develop green technologies, and so on - we should pause to contemplate the nature of the crisis itself, for there are essential lessons the crisis can teach us concerning our understanding of the natural world and our relation to it. I will call these thinkers radical ecologists. 1 Reflection on these philosophical issues is needed, they claim, for two reasons. First, reflection is needed to uncover the conceptual roots of the environmental crisis, or, more precisely, its roots in an impoverished conception of the natural world. In this sense, radical ecologists call for us to look backwards, as it were, to contemplate the deficient conceptions of nature we have been bequeathed by the dominant traditions of Western thought. Second, radical ecologists hold that reflection is necessary in order to trace out the contours of a richer, more wholesome, more spiritually satisfying account of the natural world and our place in it. This general project of looking back to the impoverished accounts of nature we have iriherited and looking forwards to the possibility of an 'eco-friendly' understanding of nature finds itself cashed out in a variety of interrelated conceptual themes.