Nature's participatory psyche: A study of consciousness in the shared earth community.
The Humanistic Psychologist 2010 DOI: 10.1080/08873261003635708 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Citations | 13 |
| Key points | Argues that the dominant Western view of consciousness as exclusively human impoverishes humans and nature, and proposes that a nondual, participatory fellowship of being can be experienced as the psyche or mind of nature and as our deeper psyche. Contends such transpersonal realizations foster well-being but are often defensively disparaged for subverting ego-centered conventions. |
Abstract
The dominant tradition in Western culture has constructed an idiosyncratic view of nature and consciousness, one that relationally impoverishes both humankind and the rest of the natural world. Psyche, consciousness, and mind are typically thought to exist exclusively in humans (or just our brains); nature is deemed merely an object, resource, or lower life-form. Guided by hermeneutic phenomenology and critical psychology, this ecopsychological study offers a mutually enhancing alternative: An often unnoticed but ever-presencing, nondual, participatory fellowship of being can be experienced as the psyche, consciousness, or mind of nature—and as our deeper psyche as well. Such transpersonal realizations can foster health and well-being in the shared Earth community, but are often defensively disparaged because they subvert our ego-centered conventions. Empirical evidence from lived experience is presented in dialogue with psychological insights from existential phenomenology, systems theory, Buddhism, Gary...