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INTRODUCTION TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES 19
It is also fundamental for EH to re-think and reframe the interpretation of
both human and non-human beings, as well as the relationship between humans
and other beings. An essential part of this conceptual framework is the radical
criticism of (mainly) Western thinking, which blames the cause of the unsustainable
practices on the logic of the power systems and the utter separation from nature,
on the interpretation of “nature as Other”.'° EH, on the other hand, identifies with
Timothy Morton's notion of coexistentialism (2010) and Anna Tsiang’s (2015) idea
of transformative encounters. It acknowledges that we humans are inseparable from
nature and leads us to reconsider the scope of our deeds and attitudes (Oppermann —
Iovino 2017: 2).
New ideas, new conceptual framework
The co-authors Emmett and Nye emphasize that currently every society is faced
with global problems. In response to these challenges, new ideas and new
terminology evolve, which frame the environmental concerns in a new way. The
new, conceptual framework of multiple interconnected terms aims to address the
issues previously dealt with separately. This article will now present — partly based
on their work (Emmett — Nye 2017: 9-21) — these new ideas and conceptual
framework. They will be discussed in detail in subsequent chapters.
Critique of the nature-human dichotomy
It helps to start with what — in my opinion — defines the entire research field and
what the authors formulate as the negation of the Kantian Ding an sich, The thing¬
in-itself: it posits that there is no “thing”, living being or object, in separation,
isolation, disconnectedly. Everything is part of diverse networks of relations. It is
defined in its relatedness and assumes its meaning in relation to them. This applies
to humans as well, who cannot separate themselves from their environments,
however much they tend to believe that they can. Consequently, the nature-human
dichotomy has to be revised. It would follow that human beings have no special
rights over other species, and that therefore there is nothing that could legitimize
the activity that leads to the extinction of other species or the consumption of the
entire planet Earth.
Critique of the hierarchy of cultures
An equally basic tenet claims that Western (or any) culture is not superior to other
cultures. No technological development or any ideological argument can justify
the contrary view. Though this tenet may appear evident and not in need of any
explanation, since cultural relativism states the same, post-colonialist or ecofeminist
1° Related notions are Plumwood’s hyperseparation (Plumwood 2002: 117) and Colebrook’s definition
of hyper-cartesianism (Colebrook 2015: 169). To cartesianism, see the chapter on Environmental
Philosophy.