The Ethics of Embodied Nature Through the Lens of Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

The conception of embodiment addresses relationships between knowledge, the mind, and the physical environment. The embodiment is the experience of becoming conscious of what the soma is as a whole. The stance of eco-somatic embodied sustainability places the unfold­ing of this venture in the perceptual interaction and relation between the human body and nature. The environment at the intersection of human and non-human nature highlights the necessity and importance of acknowledging nature’s participation in constructing sus­tainability knowledge. Postmodern environmental philosophers propose narratives as a cen­tral element in producing environmental/ethical knowledge while defining the relationship between place, values, and sustainability. This paper will address a shift from the modern notion of environmental philosophy to postmodern environmental sustainability – the expo­sition of narratives, ideography, and metaphysical account of place for moving towards con­textualising environmental epistemology. Environmental epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics are allied to establishing a dynamic relationship between soma, nature, and culture by developing embodied ecosystem sustainability. We cannot escape nature and its relation to us as we are embedded, situated, and interacting with the environment. However, the no­tion of an embodiment of nature and humans through contextualising epistemology with re­lational self, place, and ethics enacted becomes substantiated.