Nature matters in conversation

Introduction

This unit explores different understandings of nature and environment and the significance these may have for developing responsibility. The problems of connecting human and non-human nature are presented here as being a challenge peculiar to the concerns of environmental responsibility. They provide the impetus for exploring the idea of ‘conversation’ as a metaphor for what matters in environmental responsibility. Using a reading by Stephen Talbott as a foundation, the conversation metaphor is introduced as a way of re-conceiving ongoing human relationships with nature, not only providing insight into environmental responsibility but also delineating issues of communication as what matters in this field, in contrast to other areas of environmental studies.

This unit in an adapted extract from the Open University course Environmental responsibility: ethics, policy and action (TD866). [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]