Identification with Nature: What It Is and Why It Matters
Ethics and the Environment
Short Title:
Identification with Nature
Format:
Journal Article
Publication Date:
Nov 30, 2006
Pages:
1 - 22
Sources ID:
87686
Visibility:
Public (group default)
Abstract:
(Show)
This essay examines the content and significance of the notion of "identification" as it appears in the works of theorists of deep ecology. It starts with the most frequently expressed conception of identification—termed "identification-as-belonging"—and distinguishes several different variants of it. After reviewing two criticisms of deep ecology that appear to target this notion, it is argued that there is a second, less frequently noticed type of identification that appears primarily in the work of Arne Naess—"identification-as-kinship." Following this analysis, it is suggested that identification-as-kinship may be less vulnerable to the criticisms that are aimed at identification-as-belonging