Towards a renewed philosophy of nature in the West: making sense of our place in the world in conversation with Pierre Hadot

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dc.contributor.advisorDu Toit, Henriëtte Louiseen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorFourie-Basson, Wiida Elizabethen_ZA
dc.contributor.otherStellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Applied Ethics.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-22T13:06:17Zen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-08T17:36:04Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2023-11-22T13:06:17Zen_ZA
dc.date.available2024-01-08T17:36:04Zen_ZA
dc.date.issued2023-12en_ZA
dc.descriptionThesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the 1970s, the field of environmental ethics developed as a sub-discipline of philosophy in reaction to the large-scale destruction of the natural environment. Today we know, largely due to the contributions of thousands of scientists through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that humans and their activities continue to cause chronic and unprecedented environmental problems. Environmental ethicists and philosophy tended to blame anthropocentrism as an underlying attitude in Western thinking, for driving this destruction. In this thesis, I explore instead metaphysical questions concerning the nature of the human condition and our place in this world in conversation with the French philosopher, historian of philosophy and philologist, Pierre Hadot (1922-2010). It is Hadot’s contention that a revised notion of the ancient Western concept of a philosophy of nature, before it was collapsed into science per se, will enable humanity to again see the world as it is, in all its wonder and terror. He draws on Neoplatonism, a neglected reconceptualization of Platonism, for his development of such a modern philosophy of nature. In The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature (2006), Hadot excavates the original meaning of phusis (usually translated as ‘nature’), as the inexplicable surging-forth of reality, thereby providing a metaphysical foundation for the new philosophy of nature. He then proceeds to re-establish the validity of an aesthetic perception of nature in twentieth-century philosophy, drawing on the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. From an epistemological perspective, he succeeds in validating aesthetic knowledge of nature on par with scientific knowledge of nature. It is not a question of the one replacing the other, or that the one is better than the other. He shows that the ancient tradition of philosophy of nature affirmed that both a scientific and an aesthetic knowledge of nature are essential for an authentic human existence on earth. For Hadot, it is not a question of being anthropocentric versus being non-anthropocentric. Rather, we have an inherently and unavoidably ambiguous relation to nature. On the one hand, the Promethean human needs to exploit nature to survive and prosper. This is the dominant tradition in the Western intellectual tradition. On the other hand, what Hadot terms the Orphic approach to nature, is based on a deep respect for nature invigorated by a living perception of it. It is this latter approach to nature in the Western tradition that needs to be restored and strengthened if we want to obtain a sustainable balance between human need and ambition and the natural world.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die 1970's het die veld van omgewingsetiek ontwikkel as 'n subdissipline van filosofie in reaksie op die grootskaalse vernietiging van die natuurlike omgewing. Vandag weet ons, grootliks te danke aan duisende wetenskaplikes se bydraes tot die Interregeringspaneel oor Klimaatsverandering (IPCC), dat mense en hul aktiwiteite steeds chroniese en ongekende omgewingsprobleme veroorsaak. Omgewingsetici en -filosofie was geneig om antroposentrisme as 'n onderliggende houding in Westerse denke vir hierdie vernietiging te blameer. In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek egter metafisiese vrae oor die aard van die menslike natuur en ons plek in hierdie wêreld in gesprek met die Franse filosoof, historikus van filosofie en filoloog, Pierre Hadot (1922-2010). Dit is Hadot se aanname dat 'n hersiene idee van die antieke Westerse konsep van 'n natuurfilosofie, voordat dit deur die moderne natuurwetenskappe vervang is, die mensdom in staat sal stel om weer die wêreld te sien soos dit is, in al die wonder en verskrikking daarvan. Hy gebruik Neoplatonisme, 'n verwaarloosde herkonseptualisering van Platonisme, vir die ontwikkeling van so 'n moderne natuurfilosofie. In The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature (2006) herontdek Hadot die oorspronklike betekenis van phusis (gewoonlik vertaal as 'natuur') as die onverklaarbare voortstuwing van die werklikheid, en verskaf daardeur 'n metafisiese grondslag vir die nuwe natuurfilosofie. Hy gaan dan voort om die geldigheid van 'n estetiese persepsie van die natuur in twintigste-eeuse filosofie te hervestig aan die hand van Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger en Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Vanuit 'n epistemologiese perspektief slaag hy daarin om estetiese kennis van die natuur op gelyke voet met wetenskaplike kennis van die natuur te plaas. Dit gaan nie daaroor dat die een die ander vervang nie, of dat die een beter as die ander is nie. Hy toon aan dat die antieke tradisie van natuurfilosofie bevestig het dat sowel 'n wetenskaplike as 'n estetiese kennis van die natuur noodsaaklik is vir 'n outentieke menslike bestaan op aarde. Vir Hadot is dit nie 'n kwessie van antroposentrisme versus nonantroposentrisme nie. Ons verhouding met die natuur is eerder inherent en onvermydelik dubbelsinnig van aard. Aan die een kant moet die Prometheaanse mens die natuur ontgin om te oorleef en voorspoedig te wees. Dit is die dominante tradisie in die Westerse intellektuele tradisie. Aan die ander kant vind ons wat Hadot die Orfiese benadering tot die natuur noem. Hierdie benadering is gebaseer op 'n diep respek vir die natuur, gepaardgaande met 'n lewende persepsie daarvan. Dit is hierdie laasgenoemde benadering tot die natuur in die Westerse tradisie wat herstel en versterk moet word as ons 'n volhoubare balans tussen menslike behoefte en ambisie en die natuurlike wêreld wil verkry.af_ZA
dc.format.extent96 pagesen_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128968en_ZA
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.rights.holderStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshPhilosophy of nature en_ZA
dc.subject.lcshEnvironmental ethicsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshPhilosophy, Ancienten_ZA
dc.subject.lcshPierre Hadot -- Ethicsen_ZA
dc.titleTowards a renewed philosophy of nature in the West: making sense of our place in the world in conversation with Pierre Hadoten_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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