Two Pillars of the Human Relationship to Nature

How can the fundamental yet often ambivalent elements of modernity – capitalism, science and technology – be reconsidered from a philosophical perspective? Linking contemporary environmental debates with the philosophy of modernity and deep historical perspectives from anthropology, V. P. J. Arponen presents a wide-ranging discussion of the past, present, and future of the human relationship to nature in a changing world. His guiding thread is the possibility of a value orientation that charts a course between the excesses of reductive economic materialism and constructivist culturalism, recentring on the human capability to live active, meaningful lives.

V. P. J. Arponen is an interdisciplinary philosopher who works and teaches at the intersection of philosophy, social theory, and the human sciences at Kiel University, Germany. His writing is shaped by collaborations in various interdisciplinary research groups, bringing together perspectives from philosophy, anthropology, political economy, and environmental humanities. A central reference point is the Capability Approach, which informs his interest in the societal conditions and philosophical perspectives that enable individuals to lead active and meaningful lives. His work reflects a broader concern with the conceptual foundations of how the human condition is understood across disciplines.