The Cosmopolitical Applications of the "Spiritual" in Animist Cultures and their relevance to the environmental humanities today

Bibliographic Data

ID4880793
AuthorsFionn Bennett (corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume13
Issue1
Publication date2021-12-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDas Questões (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2447-7087 • E-ISSN: 2447-7087
PublisherBiblioteca Central da UNB (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.26512/dasquestoes.v13i1.41337
OpenAlexW4400349819
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

Through a critical reading of Bruno Latour's "cosmopolitics" this paper maintains that the "animist" acceptation of the "the spiritual" can be repurposed into a valuable mediating resource between humankind and the beleaguered planet we live upon. By adopting a "consequentialist standpoint" it assesses the "instrumental value" of the spiritual as a means to foster improved Man-Nature relations. In this assessment I focus on the way "animist cultures" tend to regard the natural environment as sentient and "besouled" and the way this inclines them to avoid abusing their fellow creatures. I also conside r how they interacted with their environment for productivistic and consumeristic purposes while simultaneously venerating it. Finally, I show how animists submit both humankind and its non human Other to a "cosmodicy" which constrains both to relate to and interact with one other on an "I Thou" basis, thereby facilitating dialogue and an "entente cordiale" between humanity and nature

Biology · Creatures · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Humanity · Natural (archaeology · Political science · Reading (process · Relevance (law · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Computer Science · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics

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Open DOIOpen Access