Heidegger and the Environment

Casey Rentmeester

ISBN 10: 1783482338 / ISBN 13: 9781783482337

Published by Rowman & Littlefield International, 2015

About this Item

This work is an attempt to provide the scaffolding of a viable environmental ethics using the later writings of Martin Heidegger. Series: New Heidegger Research. Num Pages: 160 pages. BIC Classification: HPCF3; HPQ. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 229 x 152. . . 2015. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9781783482337

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Heidegger and the Environment
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1783482338
• ISBN 13: 9781783482337
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In the past few decades, it has become clear that the Western world’s relation to nature has led to environmental degradation so wide-ranging that it threatens the existence of human civilizations as we have come to know them. The onset of anthropogenic climate change and the increasing threats of resource depletions are the most obvious signs of an environmental crisis.

This book attempts to examine the metaphysical underpinnings of our current environmental crisis, thereby viewing it from a philosophical perspective. Using Martin Heidegger’s writings on the history of being as its lynchpin, it examines how humans have come to view nature as a giant array of mere resources to be maximally exploited. Following Heidegger, Casey Rentmeester argues that this understanding of nature is rooted in the understanding of what it means to be that came about in ancient Greece. Rentmeester then utilizes elements of Heidegger’s post-metaphysical later philosophy and aspects of early philosophical Daoism to create an alternative way to think about the relation between humans and nature that is environmentally sustainable.

About the Authors

Richard Polt is Professor of Philosophy at Xavier University, Cincinnati, USA.

Gregory Fried is Professor of Philosophy at Suffolk University, Boston, USA.