In this dissertation I consider the nature of the relationship between orientation and language-habits in the context of environmental ethics. Specifically, I focus on the problem of orientation as a way of understanding the unabated trend of anthropocentrism in the dominant Western language-culture. Orientation operates as the attitudes, beliefs, and feelings in relation to something that we embody in our lived experiences. One way that we communicate our orientation in relation to the land is through our language-habits. In considering our language-habits, I conceptualize a process I call conceptual autopoiēsis. Conceptual autopoiēsis is the co-evolutionary coupling process of the language-habits and language-cultures of human orientation, which recreates the initial conditions of the reproduction of the specific concepts embodied in that given orientation, language-habit, and language-culture. I show how our orientation to the land is embodied in our language-habits and language-cultures. I show how orientation, language-habit, language-culture, and conceptual autopoiēsis all function as the environment from which we select the very conceptualization of our orientation and the language we use to do so. More specifically, metaphysical anthropocentrism is a kind of orientation that assumes a dualistic relationship to the land that perpetuates a disconnect from Nature that makes it impossible to have an ecocentric land ethic. I argue that in order to advance the language-habits and language-cultures that can cultivate a more ecocentric orientation capable of living in harmony with nature, we must first understand how the conceptual autopoiēsis of language-habits and language-cultures of the current Western orientation continue to orient us as separate from Nature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1538752 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Williams, Justin W |
| Contributors | Rozzi, Ricardo, Thompson, Michael, Yaffe, Martin |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | vi, 100 pages, Text |
| Rights | Public, Williams, Justin W, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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